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SACRAMENTAL   DISCOURSES. 


SACRAMENTAL   DISCOURSES, 


BY 


JAMES  W.  ALEXANDER,  D.D. 


NEW-YORK: 
-A.NSON    r>.    f.    tij^n  r>  o  l  :p  h 

6S3  Broadway. 
1860. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 

ANSON    D.   F.   RANDOLPH, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United 

States  for  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


The  lamented  author  of  these  discourses,  in  the  pre- 
face to  his  last  volume,  writes :  "  Printing  is  only  preach- 
ing in  another  shape.  .  .  .  After  all,  the  controlling 
reason  for  publishing  as  well  as  preaching,  should  be  a 
desire  to  glorify  God  in  the  salvation  of  men,  by  coni- 
municating,  as  widely  as  possible,  the  truth  of  the 
gospel."  These  discourses  are  selected  from  those 
preached  to  his  people  on  Sacramental  occasions,  and 
as  on  such  occasions  he  always  presented  topics  con- 
nected with  Christ  and  his  atoning  work,  but  little 
variety  of  subjects  could  be  introduced. 

Although  these  sermons  were  never  intended  or  pre- 
pared for  publication,  yet  I  have  not  felt  at  liberty  to 
change  a  single  word,  printing  them  just  as  they  were 
written,  which  will  account  for  the  abruptness  which 
appears  in  one  or  two  instances ;  for  example,  in  the  last 
discourse,  where  it  was  found  impossible  to  fill  up  the 
gaps  in  the  introduction,  and  it  was  therefore  omitted 
entirely. 

In  most  of  these  instances  there  are  indications  of 
extemporaneous  enlargement,  which  those  accustomed 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

to  the  unction  and  tenderness  of  the  author's  instruc- 
tions at  such  seasons,  might  desire  to  see  filled  out ; 
but  alas,  these  overflowings  of  love  for  Christ  and  his 
people,  these  unwritten  emotions  which  the  presence 
of  the  cross  and  the  sacrifice  excited,  all  passed  away 
with  him. 

May  the  prayers  which  accompanied  the  writing  and 
preaching  of  these  sermons,  be  now  abundantly  an- 
swered by  that  Immanuel  whom  they  were  intended  to 
glorify.  S.  D.  A. 

New- York,  December  5, 1859. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

I.    God  is  Love, 7 

II.    God's  Great  Love  to  us, 29 

III.  The  Two  Matures  op  Christ,      ...  57 

IV.  The  Hymn  of  the  Eucharist,      ...  87 
V.   The  Crucifixion, 113 

VI.    Water  and  Blood, 143 

VII.    Christ  bearing  our  Sins, 171 

VIII.    Christ's    Death,   the    Cardinal    Doc- 
trine,    203 

IX.    Communion    in    Christ's    Body     and 

Blood, 231 

X.    All  Things  but  Loss, 261 

XI.  .The  Man  Christ  Jesus, 28  7 

XII.    Plenteous  Redemption, 313 

XIII.    Christ's  Cross  and  Crown,      .     .    .     .  339 


I. 

GOD    IS    LOVE. 


GOD     IS     LOVE. 


1  John  4  :  8,  16. 

"  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God ;  for  God  is  love." 
"And  we  have  known  and  believed  the  love  that  God  hath 

to  us.     God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in 

God,  and  God  in  him." 

If  we  can  by  Divine  aid  conduct  our 
meditations  aright  on  these  words,  we  shall 
be  led  to  such  affection  towards  God,  such 
tender  remembrance  of  Christ,  and  such 
unfeigned  communion  with  brethren,  as  shall 
adorn  our  sacramental  feast.  As  the  writer 
of  our  text  clung  more  closely  than  any  to 
the  dying  Kedeemer,  so  his  writings  turn 
more  than  any  on  Jesus  and  his  love.  And 
in  the  following  discourse,  my  proofs  and 
illustrations  shall  be  drawn  chiefly  from 
these  writings. 

The  text    brings   us   at   once   to   a  per- 
sonal  God ;    that   object   of  love   and   wor- 
1* 


10  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

ship,   to    whom  we    cling  more   firmly,   the 
more    he    is    denied.      And    alas    that    we 
should  say  it.     He  is  denied.     The  day  was 
when  even  the  most  fearful  among  us  could 
not    have    apprehended    that   the    form   of 
horrid  unbelief  called  pantheism  could  ever 
gain  foothold   in   America.      Yet   we    have 
lived  to   see  it.     No   longer  do  we  wrestle 
with    the    naked    barbarism    of    Paine    and 
Volney.      The  lowest  class   of  foreign  man- 
ufacturers in  works  and  mills  are  beginning 
to   consider   that   shape   of    infidelity  to    be 
obsolete.      But  another  river  of  poison   has 
begun  to   flow  in   from  Germany,  the  nurs- 
ing mother   of   all   religious   monsters.      In- 
stead  of  no   God,   it  is   all   God.      Instead 
of   believing  nothing,   it   is  believing   every 
thing.      There  is  scarcely  a  term  or  phrase 
of  orthodox  and  evangelical  religion,  which 
is  not  heard  from  the  lips  of  those  who  but 
yesterday  were   dead   rationalists,    Unitarian 
scoffers,  Priestleyan  humanitarians.     All  sys- 
tems  are   voted   to   have   a   form   of  truth. 
All  heresiarchs  from  Cerinthus  and  Marcion, 
to  Swedenborg  and  Joe  Smith,  are  invested 
with    a    halo    of   pleasing   attraction.      The 
religion  of  Taste  and  Beauty,  of  Music  and 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  11 

Architecture,  of  Industry  and  Labor,  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  religion  of  Truth 
and  Holiness.  All  worship  has  something 
good  in  it,  whether  addressed  to  Jesus,  to 
Mary,  to  Jove  or  to  Juggernaut.  All  we 
are  and  all  we  see,  all  that  was  is  and  shall 
be,  is  God.  And  God  is  a  vast,  mutable, 
fermenting,  tumultuating,  ever  -  developing 
ocean  of  universal  being,  an  infinite  imper- 
sonality which  embosoms  us  and  of  which 
we  are  ourselves  a  part.  Most  clearly  he 
who  learns  this  must  unlearn  the  God  of 
the  Bible.  This  is  not  the  Jehovah  of  the 
Old  Testament,  nor  God  the  Father  of  the 
New.  Such  a  divinity  as  this,  however 
hymned  by  the  rhapsodies  of  fashionable 
poets,  or  glorified  by  a  mystic  philosophy, 
is  not  the  God  whom  we  can  approach 
unto,  and  within  whose  almighty  arms  we 
can  lie.  Such  a  religion  may  answer  for 
the  mock  battles  of  the  schools,  or  the  rhap- 
sodies of  verse,  but  it  is  too  cold  and 
intangible  to  sustain  on  the  sick  bed,  or  cast 
its  guiding  ray  over  the  path  into  eternity ; 
and  indeed,  we  generally  find  those  who 
maintain  such  views  of  God  coupling  with 
them    a    denial    of    personal    distinct,    that 


12  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

is,  individual  existence  beyond  the  grave. 
Take  away  the  keystone,  and  the  arch 
"becomes  ruinous.  Very  hard  it  is  to  unlearn 
the  errors  of  a  false  system,  especially  when 
implicated  with  the  phantasms  of  imagina- 
tion ;  hence  few  come  back,  and  most  make 
one  plunge  after  another  into  hideous  gulfs 
of  transcendental  spiritualism,  Swedenborgian 
intoxication,  and  the  licentious  sweep  of 
what  children  of  Gomorrah  call  passional 
freedom.  O  my  brethren,  how  gracious  is 
the  hand  (more  than  angelic)  which  leads 
us  back  from  the  hell  of  such  sulphureous 
dreamings  to  the  faith  of  our  infancy:  how 
like  emerging  from  a  hot  night  in  some 
fever-hospital  full  of  miasm  and  delirium 
into  the  cool,  clear  morning  air  of  moun- 
tains !  How  precious  beyond  all  descrip- 
tion the  blessedness  of  approaching  a  per- 
sonal God,  who  made  us,  who  sees  us  who 
hears  us,  who  is  near  us  who  cares  for  us, 
and  who  saves  us.  How  heavenly  the 
declaration,  "  God  is  love." 

To  minds  seeking  to  know  who  and 
what  God  is — and  this  is  the  grand  enigma 
of  the  universe,  which  vexed  the  souls  of  the 
greatest  among  the  ancients — this  declaration, 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  13 

though  imperfectly  understood,  must  have 
been  truly  surprising  and  awakening.  They 
spoke  of  the  Supreme  under  various  charac- 
ters, but  never  had  they  dared  to  syllable  his 
name  as  love.  Never  had  any  passion  bear- 
ing such  a  title  been  directed  towards  him. 
"When  early  inquirers,  for  example  sad 
though  learned  Greeks,  came  to  the  ancient 
Scriptures,  opened  the  scroll  of  this  epistle, 
and  read  these  words,  twice  occurring  in 
this  brief  space,  their  emotions  must  have 
been  novel.  Let  us  examine  the  connexion 
in  which  the  proposition  occurs.  In  the 
first  instance  (4  :  8)  the  beloved  disciple 
brings  it  forward  in  a  manner  which  mani- 
fests the  identity  of  love,  in  heaven  and 
earth.  "  Beloved,"  he  says,  u  let  us  love 
one  another."  This,  you  will  say,  is  only 
the  repetition  of  the  familiar  Christian 
maxim;  all  believers  must  love  one  another. 
But  he  adds,  "Love  is  of  God."  Here  he 
traces  the  flood  to  the  fountain.  In  other 
words,  love  is  divine,  and  proceeds  from  the 
very  nature  of  God.  And  where  holy  love 
prevails,  it  is  by  reason  of  a  new  nature, 
from  above,  implanted  by  regeneration.  For 
listen    again :    "  Every   one    that    loveth    is 


14  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

bom  of  God  and  knowctk  God."  These 
are  most  notable  words,  as  showing  us,  that 
true  knowledge  of  God,  which  only  the 
regenerate  possess,  displays  itself  by  love, 
which  thus  is  "o^God."  And  further,  stat- 
ing the  same  negatively:  aHe  that  loveth 
not,  knoweth  not  God."  The  selfish,  the 
contracted,  the  malign,  the  unrenewed  spirit 
in  man,  has  never  beheld  and  known  the 
Supreme  Excellence,  "  for  God  is  love." 
And  not  content  with  generalities,  he  cites 
the  great,  the  stupendous  manifestation  of 
Divine  love  in  the  incarnation,  (v.  9.)  "In 
this  was  manifested  the  love  of  God  toward 
us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only  begotten 
Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live 
through  him."  Propitiation  proves  love  — 
and  love  to  sinners.  Propitiatory  love  is 
the  chief  outshining  of  the  Supreme  splen- 
dor. This  very  principle  (love)  descends 
from  God  to  men,  and  shows  us  more  of 
God  than  all  works  and  all  symbols.  There 
is  no  direct  vision  of  God;  but  there  is 
vision  of  love,  when  we  see  and  love  God's 
image  in  a  brother.  Thus  we  may  have 
the  indwelling  of  infinite  love  in  our  bosoms, 
revealing  much  of  God   though  we  may  not 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  15 

gaze  upon  Hm  with  our  eyes.  (v.  12.)  "  No 
man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time.  If  we 
love  one  another,  God  dwelleth  in  us,  and 
his  love  is  perfected  in  us."  Through  all 
these  verses  (7-13)  the  golden  thread  of 
connexion  is  the  thought  that  love  in  God's 
nature,  love  in  atonement,  love  in  Jesus,  and 
love  in  the  brethren,  are  one  and  the  same 
holy  principle.  The  second  occurrence  of 
the  text  keeps  up  the  same  reference  to  the 
cross  as  the  sign  of  love.  (v.  16.)  True 
faith  owns  God's  infinite  love  in  redemption, 
admits  the  overflow  of  compassionate  grace, 
and  thus  unites  God  and  the  soul.  "¥e 
have  known  and  believed  the  love  that 
God  hath  to  us."  Every  sinner  who  receives 
Christ  can  say  this.  God's  smile  is  recog- 
nized. We  no  longer  dwell  under  mere 
justice  and  fear.  We  believe  God  to  be 
loving.  Mark  what  follows :  "  God  is  love ; 
and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in 
God  and  God  in  him."  (v.  16.)  There  is  no 
surer  evidence  of  being  united  to  God,  and 
therefore  new-born,  than  the  fact  that  we 
dwell  in  love.  It  is  our  habitation;  there 
we  live,  never  going  out,  or  going  out  soon 
to   return ;   more — it  is   our   atmosphere,  in 


16  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

which  we  live  and  move,  and  which  we 
breathe,  with  vital  effects.  This  love  is 
awakened  to  life  by  God's  love  in  redemp- 
tion. The  whole  train  of  argument  goes  to 
this,  and  we  read  all  in  the  cross ;  (v.  19.) 
"We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us." 
It  was  necessary,  my  dear  brethren,  that 
we  should  see  clearly  how  the  apostle  John 
introduces  the  maxim,   "God  is  Love." 

2.  While  every  thoughtful  mind  that  ever 
heard  this  utterance  has  probably  been  struck 
by  a  vague  sublimity  in  the  words,  what,  we 
may  still  ask,  are  we  to  understand  by  them  ? 
God  is  Love ;  but  how,  and  in  what  sense  ? 
Does  it  mean  that  God  is  loving,  that  he 
loves,  or  that  he  is  benevolent?  This  it 
does  mean,  in  a  low  and  partial  degree ;  this 
is  included;  but  this  is  far  from  the  gran- 
deur of  the  apostolic  conception;  and  there 
is  immeasurable  force  in  the  abstract  term. 
Do  the  words  intend,  then,  that  Love  or 
Benevolence  is  so  equivalent  to  God,  as  fully 
to  define  God,  so  that  all  his  glorious  at- 
tributes are  modes  of  this  one  attribute,  and 
so  that  there  is  nothing  in  God  but  love? 
Some  have  so  taught,  and  have  resolved  all 
the   divine  perfections  into  love.     Even  jus- 


GOD   IS  LOVE.  17 

tice  and  wrath,  in  their  view  are  but  vary- 
ing aspects  of  this  one  excellency.  As  a 
necessary  accompaniment  the  same  theolo- 
gians have  made  all  virtue  or  holiness  to 
consist  in  benevolence,  and  infinite  holiness 
in  infinite  benevolence.  And  some  have 
built  this  upon  our  text.  But  here  we  have 
a  striking  instance  of  the  evils  which  result 
from  an  undue  wish  to  simplify ;  or  to  refer 
diverse  effects  to  one  and  the  same  prin- 
ciple. Though  benevolence  is  virtue,  it  is 
not  all  virtue.  Though  all  selfishness  is  sin, 
all  sin  is  not  selfishness.  Though  God  is 
infinitely  benevolent,  infinite  benevolence  is 
not  all  of  God;  who  is  infinite  in  being, 
in  truth,  in  power,  and  in  eternal  equity. 
God  is  Love,  and  the  maxim  holds  good 
and  abides  glorious;  but  in  the  same  sub- 
lime sense  as  God  is  Truth,  and  God  is 
Eighteousness.  The  precise  notion  intended 
to  be  conveyed,  so  far  as  human  notions 
can  be  precise  respecting  a  divine  object, 
is  this :  that  infinite  love  pertains  to  the  very 
nature  and  being  of  Jehovah,  so  that  be- 
nevolence is  ever  present,  ever  abounding 
and  absolutely  essential.  Especially  in  that 
side   of   his   glory  which   is    turned    to   us- 


18  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

ward,  or  at  that  opening  of  the  pillar  of 
cloud  where  the  pillar  of  fire  breaks  forth 
to  our  view,  it  is  boundless  love  which  we 
behold.  And  as  all  we  know  clearly  of  our 
Maker  is  through  Grace,  our  knowledge  of 
the  Supreme,  by  means  of  the  plan  of  re- 
demption, is  principally  a  knowledge  of  him 
as  love.  The  entire  connexion  of  the  pas- 
sage shows  this  to  have  been  the  Apostle 
John's  mind,  (4:9,  10,  14, 16.)  God  is  love 
in  such  wise,  that  when  we  sinners  look  up 
to  him  through  Christ  we  see  nothing  but 
love,  as  he  who  looks  up  to  the  sun's  flaming 
disk  in  mid-heaven  sees  nothing  but  a  blaze 
of  light.  To  us,  as  redeemed,  God  is  love, 
yea,  all  love;  but  we  dare  not  assert  that 
there  are  in  the  Holy  One  no  powers  but 
these,  or  no  powers  but  those  we  know. 
Such  philosophizing  were  presumptuous  and 
profane,  and  is  alluded  to  by  me  chiefly 
because  of  certain  errors  of  serious  moment 
which  have  flowed  from  it.  Safer  and  wiser 
is  it,  and  certainly  more  delightful,  to  come 
down  from  abstractions,  to  another  and  a 
scriptural  way  of  contemplating  the  God  of 
Love;  and  this  is  the  point  which  is  now 
to   occupy  us. 


GOD   IS  LOVE.  19 

3.  Some  great  and  good  men  have  loved 
to  dwell  on  the  marks  of  divine  goodness 
which  are  visible  in  the  works  of  Creation 
and  Providence ;  and  for  certain  purposes 
of  proof  and  illustration  such  surveys  are 
highly  valuable.  Far,  far  be  it  from  me, 
ever  to  join  the  counsels  of  those  modern 
philosophers  who  despise  the  study  of  Na- 
tural Theology,  and  who  think  nothing  is 
to  be  learned  from  the  marks  of  design  in 
Nature.  Poor  Voltaire,  who  though  a  Deist 
was  no  atheist,  was  not  so  blind  but  that 
he  could  say:  "Newton  believed  in  final 
causes;  I  also  venture  to  believe  in  them; 
light  is  made  for  the  eye,  and  the  eye  is 
made  for  light."  Especially  after  we  have 
the  key  placed  in  our  hand  by  Scripture 
we  walk  through  the  mighty  halls  of  this 
universal  palace  with  amazement  and  thank- 
fulness rising  at  every  step ;  our  language 
being  that  of  David,  in  the  recurring  re- 
frain of  Psalm  107 :  ("  O  Lord,  how  mani- 
fold are  thy  works;  in  wisdom  hast  thou 
made  them  all;  the  earth  is  full  of  thy 
riches.")  "  Oh !  that  men  would  praise  the 
Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonder- 
ful works  to    the    children   of    men!"      So 


20  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

admitted,  we  find  Nature  and  Providence 
bearing  the  same  relation  to  revelation,  as 
experiments  and  specimens  do  to  a  lecture 
on  science.  But  to  the  uninitiated  ear  of 
Nature,  Creation  and  Providence  never  tell 
of  love.  All  the  wondrous  works  are  dumb. 
We  might  take  some  angel-guide,  and  voyage 
from  orb  to  orb,  through  all  the  stellar 
paths,  yet  see  no  trace  of  mercy.  As  sin- 
ners we  could  catch  no  sigh  of  compassion 
or  promise  of  pardon.  AH  these  belong  to 
that  innermost  glory  of  the  heart  of  God, 
which  is  revealed  by  the  Word. 

4.  But  not  only  is  it  Revelation,  my 
brethren;  it  is  revelation  of  Christ,  which 
teaches  us  that  God  is  love.  And  though 
this  truth  be  not  contained  in  the  terms 
of  the  text,  it  is  fully  expressed  in  the  con- 
text, as  we  have  seen.  The  point  is  import- 
ant enough  to  bear  repetition,  (v.  8  and  9.) 
"God  is  love;  in  this  was  manifested  the 
love  of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God 
sent  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world, 
that  we  might  live  through  him."  That 
is  to  say ;  the  manifestation  to  us,  that  God 
is  love,  is  in  God's  sending  his  Son.  Here 
is  the  principal  shining  forth  of  the  hidden 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  21 

glory  of  tlie  Divine  Nature.  Here  is  the 
central  truth  of  Christianity.  Here  is  that 
on  which  faith  fixes  when  it  justifies  the 
sinner.  He  that  lay  on  the  bosom  of  Jesus 
turns  continually,  just  as  an  infant  to  its 
mother's  "breast,  to  this  truth,  (v.  10.)  "  Here- 
in is  love ;  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that 
he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins."  This  takes  us 
one  step  onward:  we  read  the  infinite  love 
not  merely  in  God's  sending  his  Son,  but  in 
his  sending  him  to  be  a  propitiation.  It 
is  just  here,  that  we  perceive  that  (v.  11.) 
"God  so  loved  us."  The  way  in  which 
propitiation  demonstrates  the  greatness  of 
this  love  to  us  is  this:  we  were  objects 
of  punitive  justice  —  we  were  already  con- 
demned— we  could  do  nothing  to  save  our- 
selves— none  in  the  created  universe  could 
save  us  —  God  Almighty  could  not  save  us 
.  .  .  at  the  expense  of  infinite  right — 
then,  in  that  juncture,  God  interposed  the 
act  which  made  salvation  possible,  the  act 
of  propitiation.  God  is  justice ;  but  hear, 
O  heavens,  God  is  love !  (3  :  16.)  "  Hereby 
perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  because  he 
laid    down    his    life    for   us."       There   is    a 


22  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

moment  in  the  experience  of  every  true 
believer,  when  he  awakes,  as  out  of  a  trou- 
blous and  distempered  dream  of  wrath  and 
death  and  damnation,  to  the  sweet,  fresh, 
childlike  vision  that  Christ  died  for  him, 
and  herein  sees  that  God  is  Love.  The 
Cross  speaks  it.  The  faintly  opening  lips  of 
dying  Jesus  speak  it.  The  language  of  the 
eyes,  O  how  much  more  eloquent  than 
words — of  eyes  swimming  in  death — speak 
it.  The  blood  that  speaketh  better  things 
than  that  of  Abel,  at  five  bleeding  wounds 
speaks  it.  O  my  brethren,  it  is  propitia- 
tion, which  tells,  not  only  the  love  of  the 
Son  but  the  love  of  the  Father.  Away 
with  the  calumnious  allegation  of  heretical 
adversaries,  denying  the  only  Lord  God  who 
bought  them  and  putting  them  and  him 
to  an  open  shame,  as  though  we  represented 
God  the  Father  as  a  bloodthirsty  tyrant,  to 
be  appeased  only  by  the  bloodshedding 
of  his  more  loving  Son!  God  the  Father 
gives  the  Son;  he  devises  the  plan,  and  de- 
crees the  expiation.  The  immeasurable  love 
of  the  unseen  Godhead  is  made  visible  to  us 
in  the  flesh  of  the  Son.  Long  before  the  clos 
ing  scene  Jesus  himself  uttered  this  to  the  yet 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  23 

unsealed  ears  of  that  Pharisee  and  master  of 
Israel  who  stole  to  him  by  night :  "  For  God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  belie veth  in  him 
might  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
(John  3  :  16,  17.)  The  benevolence  compas- 
sion and  grace  which  stream  to  us  from  the 
Cross  are  waves  that  gush  from  the  secret 
fountain  of  paternal  Deity,  while  the  glory  of 
the  Father  shines  on  us  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ.  And  thus  it  becomes  more  and  more 
apparent,  as  we  study  it  more,  that  it  is  the 
revelation  of  Christ  which  teaches  us  that 
God  is  love. 

5.  "While  we  were  constrained  to  admit 
that  the  contemplation  of  nature  is  insuffi- 
cient to  assure  us  of  God's  mercy  and  grace 
to  sinners,  or  fully  to  instruct  us  concerning 
his  benevolence,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that 
after  we  have  learnt  these  lessons  at  the  cross, 
and  thus  discovered  the  key  to  nature's  hiero- 
glyphic, we  may  return  to  survey  the  works 
of  infinite  wisdom  and  power  as  the  works  of 
him  who  is  also  infinite  love.  Then  the  pros- 
pect changes.  It  is  no  longer  the  same  cold, 
orphaned  universe.  "  Old  things  are  passed 
away,  behold  all  things  are  become  new  ;  and 


24  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

all  things  are  of  God  who  hath  reconciled  us 
to  himself  by  Jesus  Christ." 

M  The  common  air,  the  earth,  the  skies, 
To  him  are  opening  Paradise." 

The  pure  vault  of  wintry  heaven  looks  down 
with  its  starry  countenance  all  serenely  radi- 
ant in  love.  The  fragrance  of  forests  and  the 
blush  of  summer  flowers  now  come  to  us  as 
from  a  Redeemer.  And  every  breath  of 
mercy  in  daily  things  is  a  whisper  of  grace, 
from  one  who  died  for  us. 

6.  It  can  never  cease  to  be  the  capital 
truth,  through  all  stages  of  universal  history, 
in  the  progress  of  worlds,  that  God  is  love. 
Heaven  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  so  the 
kingdom  of  love.  To  go  to  heaven,  is  to  go 
to  God,  that  is  to  sink  into  the  bosom  of 
unfathomable  love.  This  is  the  atmosphere 
of  the  blessed.  Born  into  this,  the  new  crea- 
ture begins  to  love.  The  pulses  play  from  an 
action  at  the  heart  of  all,  which  is  Jesus 
Christ.  Faith  worketh  by  love.  Believing 
is  immediately  productive  of  loving.  The 
new  affection  is  not  yet  ripe ;  but  its  nature 
is  determined  forever.  The  love  of  the  so 
pardoned  soul,  is  in  the  first  instance  a  fervent 


GOD  IS   LOVE.  25 

melting  often  passionate  going-out  of  itself 
to  Christ  on  the  cross.  The  language  of  the 
true  Church  in  all  ages  has  been  the  same 
on  this  head.  Every  new  convert  under- 
stands our  meaning  here.  For  reasons  al- 
ready given,  this  love  of  Jesus,  is  love  of  God. 
Its  action  is  mighty  ;  impelling  to  unreserved 
submission  and  perfect  obedience.  "  The  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  us."  At  this  point  we 
have  the  origin  of  evangelical  obedience, 
which  is  not  in  order  to  obtain  pardon,  but 
the  consequeuce  of  pardon.  (5  :  3.)  "  For 
this  is  the  love  of  God,  that  we  keep  his  com- 
mandments ;  and  his  commandments  are  not 
grievous."  Other  marks  of  piety  may  be 
wanting  or  obscure,  but  the  believer's  love  to 
the  God  of  love ;  the  response  of  love  to 
love ;  the  earthly  echo  to  heavenly  compassion, 
can  never  be  absent.  The  soul  can  not  utter 
the  syllables,  God  is  love,  without  experi- 
encing the  emotion.  God  in  Christ  is  the 
object  of  your  distinct  personal  affection,  if 
you  have  been  renewed  by  his  spirit. 

7.  This  statement  of  the  influence  which 
the  doctrine  has  upon  the  soul,  would  be  in- 
complete, if  we  did  not  add ;  it  insures  the 
love  of  brethren.     We  need  not  return  upon 
2 


26  GOD  IS   LOVE. 

our  track,  to  show  that  love  is  the  same  in  all 
its  actings.  John,  our  teacher,  reiterates  the 
lesson,  that  right  feelings  towards  God  will 
produce  right  feelings  towards  man.  "  He 
that  saith  he  is  in  the  light,  and  hateth  his 
brother,  is  in  darkness  even  until  now." 
"We  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death 
unto  life  because  we  love  the  brethren." 
And  it  is  connected  thus  with  the  cross 
(3  :  16.)  "  Hereby  perceive  we  the  love  of 
God,  because  he  laid  down  his  life  for  us ; 
and  we  ought  also  to  lay  down  our  lives  for 
the  brethren."  And  this  effect  of  a  renewal, 
which  reinstates  in  us  the  image  of  Gocl,  is 
traced  up  to  its  unfailing  cause  :  (5:1.) 
"  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Mes- 
siah is  born  of  God :  and  every  one  that  lov- 
eth  him  that  begat,  loveth  him  also  that  is 
begotten  of  him."  Fellow-disciples  are  our 
Father's  children,  and  brethren  of  Jesus. 
This  is  enough  to  secure  fellowship.  The 
new  nature,  of  love,  flows  interchangeably, 
and  constitutes  communion. 

8.  Behold,  my  brethren,  the  holy  stream 
which  circulates  around  the  eucharistic 
table ;  love  in  God  to  believers — love  in 
believers  to  God — love  in  brethren  to  bre- 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  27 

thren ;  all  comprised  in  the  higher  law,  God 
is  love.  We  are  in  the  spot,  of  all  others, 
where  such  affections  may  be  best  awakened 
and  promoted ;  for  we  are  at  the  cross. 
Here  is  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation,  in  sacra- 
mental emblem.  Here  are  the  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus,  in  visible  commemoration. 
Here  is  the  nearest  view,  vouchsafed  to  us 
this  side  of  heaven,  into  the  secret  majesty 
of  Divine  perfection.  Approach — but  with 
reverence,  for  your  hand  is  upon  the  vail, 
and  within  is  the  Holy  of  Holies.  If  it  has 
insufferable  splendors,  it  has  also  the  Propi- 
tiatory above  the  ark.  "Seeing  then  that 
we  have  a  great  high-priest,  that  is  passed 
into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  son  of  God,  let 
us  hold  fast  our  profession ;"  and  "  let  us 
.  .  .  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace, 
that  we  may  obtain  mercy  and  find  grace 
to  help  in  time  of  need." 


II. 

GOD'S    GREAT   LOVE   TO    US. 


GOD'S    GREAT    LOVE    TO    US. 


Romans  8  :  32. 


"  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for 
us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things." 

With  how  inadequate  a  comprehension  do 
any  of  us  read  or  hear  this  saying !  To  know 
its  meaning,  one  would  need  to  explore  the 
eternity  of  the  past,  and  the  eternity  of  the 
future.  For  it  tells  of  bounty  having  its 
spring  in  the  counsels  of  ages,  and  of  bounty 
which  runs  on,  with  branching  abundance 
among  immortal  spirits  in  glory.  Intermedi- 
ate in  this  succession  come  all  the  good  things 
of  this  life,  which  our  Heavenly  Father  conde- 
scends to  secure  to  us  by  promise.  But  the 
principal  and  absorbing  object,  set  before  the 
eye  in  this  remarkable  passage,  is  the  most 
wonderful  upon  which  any  intellect  could  turn, 


32 

and  yet — sacli  is  our  privilege,  even  from  in- 
fancy— the  most  familiar  to  our  mind  and 
memory;  namely,  the  love  of  God  to  sinful 
man.  Sometimes  we  are  ready  to  wish  it  were 
possible  to  travel  backward  on  our  line  of 
exj3erience,  to  that  point  in  childhood  when 
Gospel  grace  first  came  to  our  cognizance ;  or 
else  to  stand  in  the  position  of  some  serious 
inquiring  heathen  who  opens  his  ear  and  heart 
to  the  news  of  a  redeeming  God;  that  by 
either  of  these  ways  we  might  get  rid  of  the 
dulness  and  indifference  which  our  worn  and 
jaded  souls  derive  from  long  hardening  of 
custom.  My  brethren,  the  freshness  of  appre- 
hension and  feeling  which  we  desire  can  be 
wrought  in  us  only  by  faith ;  which  the  Spirit 
of  God  produces  by  means  of  the  Word.  Con- 
tinued attention  to  the  one  topic  before  us,  may 
be  blessed  to  fit  us  for  the  enjoyment  of  ordi- 
nances. Devout  consideration  of  the  text  will 
cause  it  to  yield  us  these  two  thoughts :  GocVs 
love  to  us,  in  giving  liis  Son  ;  and  God^s  love 
to  us,  carrying  with  it,  and  certifying  to  the 
soul,  all  subordinate  Nessings.  One  points  to 
the  cause,  the  other  to  the  effects,  and  each 
may  be  examined  under  a  two-fold  view, 
which  will  give  clearness  to  the  discussion. 


god's  great  love  to  us.  33 

I.  God's  loye  to  us  in  giving  his  Son 
Here  is  a  great  and  heavenly  subject,  which 
may  be  properly  considered  under  two  aspects : 
God's  love  to  us  is  the  blessing  of  blessings ; 
and  is  demonstrated  by  the  greatest  of  gifts. 

1.  God's  love  to  us  is  the  blessing  op 
blessings.  As  we  and  all  mankind  are  no 
better  than  orphans  in  the  universe  if  we  have 
no  belief  in  a  Divine  Creator  and  Benefactor, 
so  even  thus  believing  we  must  be  miserable, 
unless  we  are  persuaded  that  he  regards  us 
with  favor.  A  Deity  who  is,  or  even  may  be, 
lnaitlignant  towards  us  would  inspire  no  feel- 
ings but  those  of  slavish  fear  and  sickening 
horror,  akin  to  the  experience  of  heathen 
devil-worshippers,  who  grovel  in  acts  of  propi- 
tiation to  the  powers  they  hate.  Nor  should 
we  derive  any  comfort  or  support  from  main- 
taining the  existence  of  a  Great  Supreme,  who, 
as  Epicurus  dreamed,  sat  in  the  heavens  indif- 
ferent to  human  weal  or  woe.  So  soon  as  we 
admit  a  Great  First  Cause,  ever  active  in  pre- 
serving and  governing  all  things,  we  begin  to 
feel  an  interest  in  his  dispositions  towards  us ; 
and  our  inquiries  become  the  more  earnest  and 
yearning  with  every  new  apprehension  of  him 
as  infinite  in  wisdom  and  power.  "  How  does 
.     2* 


34 

this  glorious  God  regard  me,  and  what  may  I 
reasonably  expect  at  his  hands  ? "  These  are 
questions  which  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  reli- 
gions, under  every  form  of  Theism.  Study 
of  Providence,  in  the  obscure  and  awful  vol- 
umes of  history  and  experience,  where  the 
pages  are  often  marked  with  tears  and  blood, 
does  not  ease  the  mind  in  regard  to  man's  des- 
tiny, or  that  certainty  which  we  would  fain 
have  for  ourselves.  That  God  governs  and 
that  he  is  just  and  ever  good,  is  seen  to  be 
compatible  with  the  existence  of  horrid  mise- 
ries ; — and  what  is  to  hinder  these  from  being 
our  own?  What  ensures  us,  that  the  next 
stage  of  existence  may  not  be  infernal  ?  What 
shall  make  it  undeniable,  that  as  evils  have 
been,  so  they  shall  not  continue  and  increase  ? 
Dark  doubtings  like  these,  such  as  unassisted 
reason  cannot  exorcise,  become  of  a  blacker 
hue,  when  conscience  tells  us  we  are  sinners, 
and  when  we  behold  vindicatory  justice  seek- 
ing amends  of  transgressors.  Some  voice 
therefore  is  hearkened  for,  which  may  credibly 
whisper  that  God  is  propitious.  If  He  is  our 
Enemy,  we  perish,  and  perish  all  the  more  be- 
cause we  cannot  re-enter  our  original  nothing. 
These  boding  thoughts,  which  belong  to  all 


35 


human  beings,  are  those  which  predispose  men 
to  seek  for  a  revelation,  and  which  when  a 
revelation  is  offered  lead  them  to  inquire  wist- 
fully at  its  oracle.  Now  the  first  teachings, 
even  of  the  Word  of  God,  are  not  such  as  to 
remove  all  doubt.  The  Law  precedes  the  (Jos- 
pel.  Hope  is  smitten  down,  before  it  is  lifted 
to  the  rock  of  support.  And  when  conscience 
is  thoroughly  aroused,  and  sin  makes  its  mo- 
tions felt  in  the  heart,  the  thought  of  the 
Almighty  One,  clad  in  holiness  and  judgment, 
becomes  insufferable.  Then  it  is,  that  he  who 
was  previously  careless  as  to  his  Creator,  be- 
gins to  comprehend  that  unless  this  glorious 
Jehovah  be  his  friend,  it  were  better  for  soul 
and  body  that  he  had  never  been  born. 
Deep  thought,  great  knowledge,  and  just  rea- 
soning only  add  to  these  solicitudes ;  and  the 
more  the  light  is  thrown  on  the  Scriptures 
the  more  does  the  inquirer  see  that  if  God  be 
against  him  his  misery  is  sure  forever.  These 
are  the  conclusions  at  which  many  arrive,  and 
at  which  all  would  arrive,  if  guided  by  truth. 
What  would  you  offer  a  man,  to  take  the 
place  of  God's  favor,  or  to  neutralize  his 
wrath  ?  Accumulate  all  honors,  science,  pow- 
er, modes  of  delight  or  exaltation ;  and  what 


36  god's  great  love  to  us. 

will  tliey  do  for  hhn,  on  whose  soul  and  des- 
tiny the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  looks  with  a 
steady  frown  ?  Let  us  go  further.  .  .  Sup- 
pose it  were  possible  for  God  to  shower  all 
other  gifts  on  the  earthly  lot  of  man,  yet 
withholding  his  love,  .  .  would  not  this  he 
mocking  torture  ?  On  the  other  hand,  give 
to  any  soul  assurance  of  God's  perpetual  love, 
and  you  crown  that  soul  with  bliss.  In  cool, 
impartial  moments,  therefore,  when  reason  is 
sound,  all  other  good  seems  trifling  compared 
with  the  love  of  the  infinite  Jehovah.  The 
immortal  creature  needs  nothing  more  to 
make  it  happy  to  all  eternity.  "  There  be 
many,"  cries  David,  "  that  say,  who  will 
show  us  any  good  ?  Lord,  lift  thou  up  the 
light  of  thy  countenance  upon  us."  There- 
fore we  justly  conclude  that  God's  love  to 
us  is  the  indispensable  favour,  without  which 
we  have  nothing ;  in  other  words,  it  is  the 
blessing  of  blessings. 

2.  God's  love  is  demonstrated  by  the 
greatest  of  gifts.  The  greatest  gift  is  this  : 
"  He  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered 
him  up  for  us  all."  Other,  lesser  gifts  there 
are,  in  gracious,  yea,  divine  abundance,  on 
which   we   might    meditate ;    but    all    these 


god's  great  love  to  us.  37 

are  branches  from  this  one  root,  lesser  loves 
from  this  one  love.  We  have  seen  the  ne- 
cessity under  which  fallen  humanity  lies,  of 
having  some  assuring  utterance  of  God's 
benevolence,  to  keep  it  from  despair  and 
elevate  it  in  blissful  hope.  The  infinitely 
benevolent  Creator,  who  is  also  the  Re- 
deemer, chose  to  vouchsafe  such  a  manifes- 
tation ;  but  no  human  mind,  probably  no 
finite  spirit,  could  ever  have  had  a  suspi- 
cion or  conjecture,  previously  to  revealing 
inspiration,  what  shape  this  utterance  would 
take.  When  the  mystery  burst  into  reve- 
lation all  heaven  must  have  been  struck 
mute  at  so  new,  so  awful  a  shining-forth  of 
the  Divine  majesty.  The  great  method  of 
saving  mankind  may  be  looked  at  on  va- 
rious sides,  from  many  points  of  observa- 
tion, and  in  manifold  relations,  but  we  are 
about  to  restrict  our  view  to  a  single  as- 
pect  of  redeeming  grace,  namely,  God's  giv- 
ing his  Son.  This  will  be  enough,  for  it 
reveals  the  heart  of  infinite  compassion. 
God  is  love  ;  and  the  Divine  fulness  finds 
no  such  fit  outlet  and  effluence  as  in  the 
delivering  up  of  the  word  for  us  all.  The 
due   consideration   of    the "  act   would   carry 


38  god's  great  love  to  us. 

us  back  into  the  eternal  ages  of  primeval 
silence,  when  as  yet  no  worlds  had  rolled 
from  the  creative  hand,  when  no  angelic 
spirit  had  gazed  into  the  face  of  the  First 
Fair  and  First  Good ;  when  godhead  as  yet 
was  all,  and  the  very  relation  of  Creator 
and  creature  lay  hid  in  idea ;  when  the 
Word  was  with  God,  yea,  "was  God,"  co- 
equal, consubstantial,  coeternal.  But  we 
must  descend  from,  or  rather  assume,  these 
high  points  of  theology,  and  fix  our  thoughts 
on  the  simple  truth,  that  "  God  spared  not 
his  own  Son." 

The  sonship  with  which  we  are  fami- 
liar on  earth  is  a  copy  or  shadow 
of  that  Eternal  Sonship,  existing  between 
God  the  Father  and  God  the  Son;  and  is 
perhaps  intended  to  enable  us  more  ade- 
quately to  comprehend  the  grandeur  and 
tenderness  of  the  gift.  When  we  read  that 
God  spared  not  his  "  own  Son ;"  a  number 
of  gushing  affections,  aptly  furnish  interpret- 
ation, as  they  spring  in  the  parental  heart. 
Things  heavenly  take  earthly  types ;  and  in- 
finite throbbing  of  Divine  love  are  trans- 
lated  into  terms  of  domestic  affection.  "  The 
Father  loveth  the  Son,"  is  a  proposition  true 


god's  geeat  love  to  us.  39 

in  heaven  as  in  earth ;  but  the  profundity, 
the  loftiness,  the  amplitude  of  such  love, 
neither  men  nor  seraphs  can  comprehend, 
any  more  than  they  can  circumnavigate  and 
fathom  infinity.  Man  was  made  in  God's 
image,  partly  we  conceive  that  he  might 
have  some  notion  of  his  spiritual  Creator, 
and  hence  man's  affections  afford  some  key 
to  the  awful,  inscrutable  acts  of  the  Di- 
vine Majesty.  But  these  are  so  far  above, 
out  of  our  sight,  that  it  is  unspeakable  re- 
lief, when  by  the  incarnation  we  find  the 
heart  of  God  beating  in  a  human  bosom, 
and  the  pulses  of  infinite  affection  driving 
their  stream  through  our  own  flesh.  Yet 
behind  all  this  is  the  infinite  compassion 
on  which  the  comino;  of  Christ  in  human 
nature  is  founded.  "  In  this  was  manifested 
the  love  of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God 
sent  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that 
we  might  live  through  him."  (1  John  4  :  9.) 
And  here  it  is  necessary  to  lift  an  obstacle 
out  of  the  way,  which  artful  enmity  some- 
times lays  down,  before  the  steps  of  igno- 
rance] Our  scheme  of  salvation  by  Christ 
is  thus  cavilled  at  by  Deistical  or  Socinian 
unbelief :    c  You  make  a  mediator  necessary, 


40  god's  great  love  to  us. 

as  though  God  were  implacable.  You  make 
God  a  tyrant,  thirsting  for  blood,  and  re- 
fusing to  be  appeased,  but  by  the  immola- 
tion of  his  more  merciful  Son.'  This  is  a 
subtle  and  blasphemous  mode  of  casting 
opprobium  on  the  Scriptures  and  the  cross ; 
and  with  superficial  thinkers  and  bigoted 
scoffers  it  finds  too  ready  acceptance.  The 
charge,  whether  it  come  from  ignorance  or 
nialice,  is  purely  false,  and  has  its  origin 
in  the  Father  of  Lies,  who  having  failed 
to  thwart  Christ's  work,  now  seeks  to  de- 
fame it.  c  We  do  make  a  mediator  neces- 
sary,' not  however  because  God  is  implaca- 
ble, but  in  order  to  carry  out  the  benig- 
nant intentions  of  him  Avho  seeks  how  he 
maybe  a  "just  God,"  and  yet  "a  Saviour." 
That  we  represent  him  as  4  a  tyrant  thirst- 
ing for  blood,'  is  a  calumny  which  our 
souls  abhor,  and  which  we  fling  back  to 
the  pit  from  whose  sulphureous  smoke  it 
came  ;  for  we  honor  Him  who  desireth  not 
the  death  of  the  sinner,  and  who  waiteth 
to  be  gracious.  Far  from  holding  that  our 
blessed  God  '  thirsteth  for  blood,'  as  these 
Sadducean  slanderers  allege ;  we  gather  out 
of    the   Scriptures   every  variety  of    tender 


41 

comparison  to  express  the  Divine  earnest 
ness  to  wrest  the  sonls  of  men  from  immi- 
nent destruction,  And  when,  by  a  profane 
burlesque,  our  enemies  stigmatize  the  God 
whom  we  adore  and  love  as,  '  refusing  to  be 
appeased  save  by  the  immolation  of  his 
Sou^'  we  reject  the  diabolic  jeer  with  filial 
indignation,  'and  would  gladly  show  them, 
if  enmity  could  allow  them  to  hear  reason, 
that  the  tremendous  sacrifice  of  Jesus  was 
the  means  originated  by  God  himself  for 
the  expression  and  manifestation  of  a  love 
to  man  which  transcends  all  creature-con- 
ception. Know  ye,  whose  shallow  theology 
would  pluck  all  that  is  mysterious  and  all 
that  is  sublime  from  the  system  of  salva- 
tion, that  God  gave  his  Son,  and  that  in 
so  giving  him,  he  affords  the  greatest  possi- 
ble manifestation  of  his  uncaused  love.  In 
other  connexions,  we  might  show,  how  other 
perfections  than  love,  made  this  sacrifice  ne- 
cessary to  the  declarative  glory  of  God. 
The  passage  before  us  is  far  from  being 
the  only  one,  in  which  this  form  of  the 
great  truth  is  set  forth.  The  giving  or  de- 
livering of  the  Son,  is  a  favorite  mode  of 
inspired  expression.     Those  blessed  lips  had 


42  god's  great  love  to  us. 

not  long  been  opened  at  the  night-inter- 
view with  Nicodemus,  before  they  uttered 
this  immortal  sentence,  since  graven  on  a 
million  hearts :  "  For  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
(John  3  :  10.)  The  gift,  according  to  the 
Master,  is  a  proof  of  love.  And  by  a 
change  of  figure,  in  the  very  next  verse: 
"  For  God  sent  not  his  Son,  into  the  world 
to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world 
through  him  might  be  saved."  The  send- 
ing is,  in  God's  intent,  a  means  to  salva- 
tion, and  so  a  token  of  love.  God  "  sent 
his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation."  (1  John" 
4:10.)  "  The  Father  sent  his  Son,  to  be 
the  Saviour  of  the  world."  (1  John 
4  :  14.)  "  Whom,"  says  Paul  (Kom.  3  :  25,) 
"  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation."  Aud 
more  strongly  (2  Cor.  5:21:)  "For  he 
hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who 
knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him."  And  lest 
opposers  should  say  the  sacrificial  part  was 
wrested  by  wicked  men  out  of  God's  hands, 
in    the    exercise    of    their    wicked    freedom 


43 

against  his  design;  we  are  taught  that  the 
very  murderers,  guilty  in  the  act,  were 
unconsciously  causing  the  wrath  of  man 
to  praise  God,  and  working  out  his  decree. 
For  at  Pentecost,  Peter  thus  addresses 
these  executioners  concerning  Jesus :  "  Him, 
being  delivered  by  the  determinate  coun- 
sel and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have 
taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  cruci- 
fied and  slain."  (Acts  2  :  23.)  In  all 
which  places,  the  words  "  gave,"  "  sent," 
"  set  forth,"  and  "  delivered,"  go  to  show 
that  the  mediatorial  work  originated  in 
the  will  and  purpose  of  God,  and  was 
the   demonstration   of  his   love. 

It  is  not  merely  a  doctrine  of  Christianity  ; 
it  is  the  fundamental  doctrine.  There  is  no 
Gospel  without  it.  It  is  the  very  Gospel,  or 
glad-tidings.  Every  thing  else  in  the  Gospel 
is  but  an  expansion  of  this,  God  loves  the 
world  of  sinners.  To  preach  "  Christ  and 
him  crucified,"  is  to  preach  God's  love. 
The  sinking  wretch  who  believes  in  Jesus 
and  is  saved,  believes  in  God's  love.  All 
the  arguments  by  which  we  urge  sinners 
to  credit  God's  willingness  to  receive  them 
run   up  into  this:   (1  John  4:10:)    "Here- 


44  god's  geeat  love  to  us. 

in  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but 
that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  And  this 
therefore  is  what  the  convert  to  God  feels 
that  he  has  attained — belief  that  God  loves 
hiin.  Before,  he  had  no  knowledge  of 
God  but  as  a  legal  Avenger.  Even  when 
nearest  to  the  kingdom,  he  was  resting  on 
some  supposed  truth  short  of  this,  and 
was  all  in  darkness.  Day  broke,  when  he 
looked  up  into  the  clear  countenance  of 
God's  love  to  him.  The  great  efficacy  of 
the  cross,  indeed,  towards  'God,  is  in  the 
way  of  expiation ;  but  its  great  efficacy 
towards  us  is  as  proof  of  love.  Whatever 
is  wanting,  this  is  always  present  in  true 
faith  .  .  .  persuasion  of  God's  love  in 
Christ.  And  so,  whenever  we  see  the 
things  that  are  freely  given  us  of  Gocl, 
we  recognize  God's  love  as  demonstrated 
by  the  greatest  of  gifts. 

II.  God's  love  to   us,  carrying  with  it 

AND  CERTIFYING  TO  THE  SOUL,  ALL  SUBOR- 
DINATE blessings.  That  is  to  say,  he  that 
so  loved  as  not  to  spare  his  own  Son,  but 
delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  cannot   but  with 


god's  great  love  to  us.  45 

him  also  freely  give  us  all  tilings.  And 
this  necessity  of  love,  this  certain  out-flow- 
ing of  streams  from  the  fount,  this  pleni- 
tude of  gratuitous  kindnesses  from  the  full 
heart  of  infinite  grace,  is  made  sure  to  the 
belief  of  the  soul.  Or,  separately  consid- 
ered, 

1.  God's  love  carries  with  it  all  sub- 
ordinate blessings,  that  is,  all  other  bless- 
ings ;  because  all  other  blessings  are  subor- 
dinated. This  comprises  all,  as  God  com- 
prises the  universe.  He  who  hath  God 
hath  all :  he  who  hath  God's  love  hath  the 
world  of  Divine  favors.  The  greater  in- 
cludes the  less,  or  rather  the  whole  includes 
the  parts.  God's  love  can  not  be  conceived 
as  greater,  than  when  he  gives  his  own  Son, 
from  his  own  bosom ;  gives  him  to  be  man, 
to  be  humbled,  to  be  put  to  death,  to  bear 
punishment,  to  be  made  a  curse.  If  a  king 
were  to  give  to  his  feeble  bride,  whom  he 
had  plucked  with  strong  .  hand  out  of  slav- 
ery, all  his  possessions,  and  a  share  of  all 
his  kingdom,  surely  she  might  rely  on  him 
for  a  piece  of  bread  or  a  draught  of  water. 
This  is  just  the  argument  of  grace.  God's 
great  gift  necessitates  his  lesser  gifts.     God's 


46 


own  Son  is  so  transcendent  a  donation  — 
how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give 
us  all  things !  The  reason  why  some  do 
not  enjoy  the  full  force  of  this  Divine  logic, 
is  that  they  stagger  about  the  premises.  If 
they  only  comprehended  the  immense  value 
of  the  original  gift ;  if  they  could  only  catch  * 
a  glimpse  of  the  glory,  beauty,  loveliness 
and  infinite  dearness  to  the  Father  of  him 
who  is  in  his  bosom;  if  they  did  only  fol- 
low him  down  from  heaven  to  earth,  through 
his  life,  agony  and  bloody  sweat,  his  cross 
and  passion,  his  burial,  resurrection  and  as- 
cension ;  if  they  only  stood  amazed,  as  well 
they  might,  at  this  great  love  wherewith 
God  loved  us,  while  we  were  yet  dead  in 
sins; — why,  brethren,  they  could  no  more 
doubt  God's  love  and  willingness  to  bless, 
in  all  things  else,  than  the  bride  folded  in 
the  embrace  of  affection  can  suspect  the  hus- 
band who  has  endowed  her  with  his  all, 
of  plotting  her  ruin.  The  entire  unbroken 
chain  of  covenant  love  hangs  on  God's  inten- 
tion, from  the  first  link  to  the  last ;  from  de- 
cree to  consummation,  (v.  30.)  "  Whom 
he  did  predestinate,  them  he  also  called : 
and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified ; 


47 


and  whom  lie  justified,  them  he  also  glori- 
fied." How  natural,  how  irresistible  the  con- 
clusion that  immediately  follows  ?  "  "What 
shall  we  then  say  to  these  things  ?  If  God 
be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  V  And 
then  our  text :  a  text  which  embosoms  all 
the  Gospel,  in  all  its  principle  and  all  its 
effects ;  source  and  flood  ;  centre  and  circum- 
ference ;  love  and  bliss ;  from  God  to  the 
creature,    for    ever   and   for  ever. 

Seek  no  longer  then  Christian  breth- 
ren, to  separate  the  love  of  the  Son 
from  the  love  of  the  Father.  They 
are  but  dimensions  of  one  and  the  same 
amazing  orb.  Seek  rather,  with  all  saints, 
to  comprehend  what  is  the  breadth  and 
length  and  depth  and  height,  and  to  know 
the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  know- 
ledge, that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the 
fulness  of  God.  The  reason  why  we  do  not 
expatiate  on  the  subordinate  gifts,  is  that 
they  are  innumerable ;  comprehending  all 
good  which  can  tend  to  the  happiness  and 
perfection  of  the  creature.  In  the  sublime 
burst' which  follows  our  text,  even  the  Paul- 
ine diction  reels  under  the  load  of  benefit, 
while   his   wide   induction   draws  within   its 


48  god's  geeat  love  to  us. 

circle,    death,    life,    angels,    tilings    present, 
things  to  come,  height,   depth,  yea,  all  crea- 
tures ;    tracing  up   all   to   the   love   of   God 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."     (v.  39.) 
2.  God's  love  to  us,  certifying  to  the 

SOUL  ALL   SUBORDINATE   BLESSINGS.       Here    doc- 

trine  turns  into  experience,  as  the  bud  "be- 
comes a  flower.  The  doctrine  was,  God's 
love  in  the  capital  article  leads  by  neces- 
sary result  to  his  love  in  every  other  arti- 
cle: the  experience  is,  I  know  and  feel  it 
to  be  so ;  I  open  my  heart  to  the  greater 
good  and  to  those  which  are  less ;  I  be- 
lieve and  am  persuaded,  that  God  is  for  me, 
and  that  none — that  nothing  can  be  against 
me.  If  this  is  wanting  in  any  of  us,  it  is 
because  we  have  not  faith.  And  here,  my 
brethren,  I  am  bound  to  testify,  whomso- 
ever it  may  startle  or  offend,  that  a  large 
number  of  Christians,  even  in  those  which 
they  consider  their  most  profitable  moments, 
go  about  the  work  of  obtaining  peace  in  their 
hearts  by  an  inverted  process ;  the  very  op- 
posite of  what  is  prescribed  in  the  JSTew 
Testament.  When  doubts  overcloud  their 
confidence,  when  remaining  sin  stirs  inward- 
ly, when  the  future  looks  portentous,  when 


god's  great  love  to  us.  49 

their  religion  has  become  all  trembling  and 
tears  —  what  is  it  they  clo  ?  Perhaps  you 
know  this  very  sacramental  hour.  They  sit 
down  to  the  work  of  exclusively  scanning 
and  measuring  wretched,  imperfect  self.  They 
turn  over  the  massive  books,  filled  with  their 
own  liabilities.  They  debit  themselves  with 
ten  thousand  items  which  they  can  never  pay. 
They  hope  by  this  method  to  find  a  balance 
so  favorable  that  they  shall  be  able  to  rise 
hoping  in  God,  and  therefore  to  apply  to 
promises  made  to  regenerate  persons.  I 
dare  boldly  pronounce,  from  God's  word, 
that  genuine  evangelical  comfort  was  never 
produced  in  this  way  ;  never,  never,  never. 
This  Sinai  never  yet  uttered  peace,  while 
it  has  thundered  many  a  believer  into 
temporary  despair.  What  then  is  the 
right  way  ?  We  need  attention,  for  we 
are  touching  the  very  vital  point  of  dif- 
ference between  old  divinity  and  the  new, 
between  the  joyful  free  grace  which  from 
the  silver  trumpets  of  Luther,  Melancthon, 
Calvin,  Knox  and  Cranmer,  shook  and 
melted  Europe  in  a  great  portion  of  its 
Church — and  that  substitute  of  alleged  im- 
provement but  real  retrocession  to  Popish 
3 


50  god's  great  love  to  us. 

legalism,  which  lias  made  the  chief  part 
of  many  experiences  to  consist  in  doubt- 
ing, and  which,  if  pursued  to  legitimate 
results,  would  speedily  land  us  in  a  scheme 
of  self-salvation.  It  ought  to  be  clear  to 
any  reason,  that  the  ground  of  a  sinner's 
trust  in  Christ  for  salvation  must  be  some- 
thing independent  of,  and  prior  to,  any 
exercises  of  his  own  soul ;  yea  some- 
thing that  is  the  cause  of  such  exercises ; 
and  therefore,  that  when  doubts  arise,  the 
resort  to  ultimate  support,  must  be  to  this 
same  pre-existing  and  Divine  ground.  And 
what  can  this  be,  but  the  Divine  veracity, 
assuring  us  that  God  loves  us !  Precisely 
for  this  reason  is  Faith  so  often  dwelt  on 
as  the  instrument ;  because  faith,  as  faith, 
lays  hold  of  God's  veracity ;  and  trust  is 
nothing  else  but  faith  in  a  promise.  Here 
then  is  our  experience  of  God's  love,  when 
"  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  the 
heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  and  here  the 
way  of  direct  escape  out  of  Satan's  legal 
net.  Poor  pilgrim,  hast  thou  like  Bun- 
yan's  mythic  Christian  been  confronted  by 
Moses  and  left  smarting  ?  —  flee  to  Jesus 
Christ.     All  Martin  Luther's  experience  was 


GOD  S  GREAT  LOVE  TO   US.  51 

a  wrestling  against  the  demon  of  legality. 
God  was  preparing  him  to  teach  a  free 
gospel  wdth  a  strength  of  expression  which 
makes  his  book  on  the  Galatians,  a  golden 
volume.  "  But  thou  wilt  say,  (says  he, 
on  Gal.  v.  5,)  "I  feel  not  myself  to  have 
any  righteousness,  or  at  the  least,  I  feel  but 
very  little.  Thou  must  not  feel,  but  be- 
lieve that  thou  hast  righteousness.  And 
except  thou  believe  that  thou  art  righ- 
teous, thou  dost  great  injury  unto  Christ, 
who  hath  cleansed  thee  by  the  washing 
of  water  through  the  Word,  who  also 
died  upon  the  cross,  condemned  sin,  and 
killed  death,  that  through  him  thou  might- 
est  obtain  righteousness  and  everlasting 
life."  O  how  precious  to  my  recollec- 
tion is  St.  Mary's  Church  Aldermanbury, 
near  which  I  once  lodged,  because  there  it 
was  that  Poor  Joseph  having  a  large  parcel 
of  yarn  hanging  over  his  shoulders,  went 
in  and  heard  the  text  which  saved  him. 
1  Tim.  1  :  15.  On  his  dying  bed,  the 
happy,  simple  soul  possessed  the  certitude 
of  God's  love  to  him  as  a  sinner.  For 
(you  remember)  when  some  of  the  reli- 
gious   sort   asked    'But    what    say  you    of 


52 

your  own  heart,  Joseph  ?  Is  there  no 
token  of  good  about  it  ?  no  saving  change 
there  ?  Have  you  closed  with  Christ,  by 
acting  faith  upon  him  V  —  c  Ah  no  !'  re- 
plied he  c  Joseph  can  act  nothing  —  Jo- 
seph has  nothing  to  say  of  himself  but 
that  he  is  the  chief  of  sinners ;  yet  seeing 
that  it  is  a  faithful  saying  that  Jesus,  he 
who  made  all  things,  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners,  why  may  not  Joseph  after 
all  be  saved  ?" — We  have  stood  by  the 
dying  bed  of  great  and  learned  Christ- 
ians, long  the  guides  of  others  in  theology ; 
but  their  faith  was  that  of  Poor  Joseph ; 
a  divinely-wrought  persuasion  of  God'? 
love  to  them,  evidenced  by  the  gift  of 
his  own  Son.  The  nearest,  safest,  truest 
way  to  Christ,  is  the  direct  way.  After 
all  your  self-examinations,  preparations  and 
conditions,  you  will  have  to  throw  them 
away,  and  come  thus  at  last.  Come  now ; 
— and  from  the  oj)ened  side  behold  all  bless- 
ings issuing  in  a  perpetual,  widening,  deep- 
ening river.  What  is  it  that  can  harm 
you,  if  you  accept  of  God's  own  Son  ? 
Condemnation  ?  "  it  is  God  that  justifieth." 
Death    for   your    sins  ?    "  it    is    Christ     that 


god's  great  love  to  us.  53 

died,  yea  rather  that  is  risen  again,  who 
is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who 
also  inaketh  intercession  for  us."  Can  he 
condemn  or  punish?  —  such  is  the  mean- 
ing— he,  who  died,  who  rose,  who  reigns, 
who  intercedes!  Look  to  Him,  and  away 
with  self  and  all  deservings.  And  if  you 
fear  your  own  weakness,  lest  you  should 
fall  away,  know  that  security  against  this 
also  is  in  the  grant.  Because  it  were 
nugatory  and  dishonorable  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, so  to  interpret  35-39  as  if  they 
meant  that  though  "tribulation,  distress, 
persecution,  etc.,"  though  "angels,  princi- 
palities, powers,"  etc.,  cannot  separate  us 
from  Christ,  yet  that  sin  can  and  may! 
Shocking  nullification  of  the  covenant  ! 
For  how  could  any  or  all  of  these  ever 
separate  except  by  sin!  And  what  a  glo- 
rying would  that  be  or  appear  to  be,  if 
all  he  meant  was,  "Thank  God,  I  shall 
never  be  separated,  unless  I  sin,  and  so 
separate  myself!"  No,  dear  fellow-believ- 
ers, ye  have  not  so  learned  Christ,  nor 
has  this  been  the  hope  you  have  derived 
from  his  word  when  you  have  heard  him 
say :  "I  give  unto  them  Eternal  Life  ; 
and  they   shall    never  perish,   neither   shall 


54  god's  great  love  to  us. 

any  man  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand." 
1  J.  10:28.  Feeble  would  be  the  re- 
liance, if  eventual  salvation  hung  suspended 
on  the  hair  of  our  own  will,  which  might 
break  under  Satanic  temptations  in  the 
last  hour !  But  no !  "  I  am  persuaded 
that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  pres- 
ent nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 
1  The  Love  of  God  '  —  it  is  our  theme. 
We  have  seen  it  comprehending  and  cer- 
tifying all,  through  the  gift  of  the  Son. 
And  hence  it  is,  that  you  have  this 
morning  heard  so  little  of  merely  tem- 
poral benefits.  Christ  gives  these  indeed, 
out  of  his  immeasurable  fulness,  but  gives 
them  only  as  appendages  to  the  chief 
good.  "  God  will  give  grace  and  glory ; 
no  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from  them 
that  walk  uprightly."  Have  you,  the 
greater  gift,  my  suffering  brother  or  sister? 
be  assured  you  shall  have  the  less. 
Whatever  is  best  for  your  ultimate  bless- 
edness and  glory,  will  be  dispensed  to  you, 
in    due    manner,    measure    and    time.     The 


55 

unreconciled  hear  this  with  disgust.  A 
Gospel  which  should  offer  earthly  good, 
is  all  the  Gospel  they  desire ;  and  if 
they  sometimes  faintly  sigh  for  religion, 
it  is  in  hope  of  increasing  selfish  earthly 
good.  But  you,  who  have  been  taught 
by  the  Spirit  to  consider  sin  the  grand 
evil,  and  Christ  the  all-comprising  good, 
you  will  rejoice  in  this  gradation  of 
benefits  .  .  .  first  my  Saviour,  then 
his  gifts.  For  you  have  learnt  to  look 
at  the  things  which  are  not  seen,  but  are 
eternal.  And  experience  has  long  since 
convinced  you,  that  you  never  had  so 
much  real  enjoyment  of  worldly  things,  as 
when  you  forgot  them  entirely,  as  a  dis- 
tinct object  of  pursuit;  and  that  you 
never  really  knew  what  happiness  in  reli- 
gion was,  until  you  made  an  entire,  un- 
reserved surrender ;  relinquishing  to  the 
world,  and  to  worldly  communicants,  the 
race  after  riches,  the  contest  for  place, 
the  miserable  rivalry  of  lineage,  dress, 
equipage,  entertainment  and  expense,  the 
pride'  of  knowledge,  art  and  literature, 
and  girded  up  your  loins  to  await  the 
Lord's    coming. 


III. 

THE  TWO  NATURES  OF  CHRIST. 


THE   TWO    NATURES   OF  CHRIST. 

I 


Rom.    9  :  6. 


"Whose  are  the  fathers  and  of  whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh, 
Christ  came ;    who  is  over  all  God  blessed  for  ever.     Amen." 

"We  are  sometimes  challenged  by  Uni- 
tarians to  produce  any  text,  in  which  Christ 
is  distinctly  said  to  lbe  God.  Here  is  just 
such  a  text.  GTirist  is  God  over  all  blessed 
for  ever.  The  words  hear  no  other  meaning. 
You  may  deny  that  they  are  in  the  book, 
or  you  may  deny  that  the  book  is  true 
and  authoritative ;  but  once  receive  this 
New  Testament,  and  you  are  constrained 
to  the  profession,  Christ  is  God.  Human 
language  cannot  be  plainer.  Sit  down 
and  imagine  a  phrase  which  shall  most 
unequivocally  and  unanswerably  tear  up 
Socinianism  by  the  roots,  and  you  can  in- 
vent  nothing  more   to  the  point  than  this. 


60  THE  TWO  NATURES   OF   CHRIST. 

The  more  you  look  at  it  in  its  connexion 
and  examine  all  its  parts,  the  more  will  it 
stand  out  as  a  prominent  and  undeniable 
assertion  of  the  godhead  of  Jesus.  No 
one  could  ever  have  dreamed  of  putting 
any  flfcher  signification  on  the  words,  if  there 
had  not  been  something  repulsive  to  proud 
human  intellect  in  the  truth  declared.  The 
words  are  plain  enough :  the  doctrine 
taught  in  them  is  mysterious.  And  haughty 
worms  spurn  mysteries.  They  are  unwilling 
that  God  should  reveal  any  thing  which 
they  could  not  have  discovered  themselves. 
They  can  not  consent  that  there  should  be 
any  recesses  in  the  Divine  nature  which 
they  have  not  explored.  They  marvel  that 
God  should  be  greater  than  man.  To  such 
God  might  say,  as  to  Job,  out  of  the  whirl- 
wind, Job  38  :  4  "  Where  wast  thou,  when  I 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ?  declare, 
if  thou  hast  understanding."  Or,  in  the 
famous  words  of  Agur,  Prov.  30:4  "  Who 
hath  ascended  up  into  heaven,  or  descend- 
ed ?  Who  hath  gathered  the  wind  in  his 
fists  ?  Who  hath  bound  the  waters  in  a 
garment?  Who  hath  established  all  the 
ends   of    the    earth  ?      What    is    his    name, 


THE  TWO  NATURES  OF   CHRIST.  61 

and  what  is  Ms  son's  name,  if  thou  canst 
tell  ? "  —  We  might  remind  them,  that  it 
was  said  of  Messiah,  in  prophetic  days,  Isa. 
9  :  6  His  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Father 
of  Eternity."  All  this  would  weigh  little 
with  persons  who  come  to  God's  revelation 
with  a  ready-made  creed,  a  product  of 
their  own  understanding,  fully  made  up  as 
to  what  they  are  to  find  in  the  Bible,  be- 
fore they  approach  it.  But  for  this  deter- 
mination no  one  would  ever  have  found 
any  obscurity  in  the  text.  Read  it  again, 
and  observe  how  you  are  shut  up  to  one 
meaning.  Paul  is  speaking  of  the  Jewish 
nation  1-4  "  whose"  says  he,  "  are  the 
fathers,  and  of  whom,  as  concerning  the 
flesh,  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all  God 
blessed  for  ever."  "  Who  is  over  all :" — there 
is  no  antecedent  to  this  relative,  but  "  Christ." 
Christ,  undeniably,  is  over  all  God  blessed 
forever.  Nor  can  our  adversaries  evade 
this,  till  they  have  tortured  the  whole  pas- 
sage ;  put  a  full  stop  after  u  Christ ;"  and 
made  a  new  sentence,  thus,  "  God  is  over 
all  blessed  for  ever."  Extraordinary  pre- 
sumption !       Amazing   abruptness   of  transi- 


62  THE  TWO  NATURES  OF   CHRIST. 

tion  !  Compare  the  sentence  thus  produced, 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  divinity  of 
Christ ;  mark  how  it  hangs  together,  "  Of 
whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came. 
God  is  blessed  for  ever.  Amen."  For  such 
a  change  there  is  no   authority. 

Examine  the  verse  in  its  connexion  (for 
half  our  expository  blunders  arise  from 
tearing  single  sentences  out  of  their  connex- 
ion) and  you  will  perceive  that  as  soon  as 
Paul  begins  here  to  speak  of  Christ,  he 
speaks  of  him  under  a  twofold  character. 
Observe — "  Of  whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh 
.  .  .  that  is,  'of  whom,  as  concerning  the 
human  nature,'  Christ  came.  Now,  I  put  it 
to  every  impartial  reader,  does  not  this 
prepare  for  some  corresponding  clause  ? 
Does  not  the  mind  irresistibly  run  on,  and 
wait  for  something  more  ?  saying  to  itself, 
Christ,  as  concerning  the  flesh,  came  of  the 
Israelites ;  but  what  does  the  Apostle  go 
on  to  say  Christ  came  of  as  concerning  his 
higher  nature  ?  The  common  reading  sup- 
plies this,  and  no  other  reading  does,  to  our 
entire  satisfaction.  "  Of  whom  (Israelites) 
as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came,"  in  his 
inferior  nature ;   and  if  you  crave  to  know 


TIIE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  63 

of  whom  he  came  as  concerning  his  supe- 
rior nature,  then  know  ye  that  he  "is 
over  all   God  blessed  for  ever." 

No  wonder,  my  brethren,  that  all  who 
wish  to  degrade  the  character  of  the  Ke- 
deemer,  labor  to  pervert  this  passage.  If 
ingenuity  and  zeal  could  have  changed  its 
meaning,  this  would  have  been  accomplished. 
But  all  arts  have  failed.  There  it  stands. 
A  resort  to  various  readings  and  other  copies 
has  effected  nothing.  All  ancient  copies  and 
manuscripts  agree  in  giving  the  words  just 
as  we  have  them.  They  perfectly  agree 
with  the  whole  drift  of  the  argument.  It 
was  the  very  object  of  the  Apostle  in  these 
verses  to  exalt  the  Jewish  nation  as  much 
as  possible,  and  nothing  was  more  natural 
than  for  him  to  declare  the  dignity  con- 
ferred on  them,  by  the  fact,  that,  according 
to  his  human  nature,  he  was  an  Israelite, 
who,  in  another  nature,  was  God  over  all, 
blessed  for  ever.  The  words  thus  under- 
stood perfectly  agree  with  other  passages 
of  Sacred  Scripture.  Let  one  suffice — from 
this  very  epistle.  1  :  3,  4.  He  designates 
the  Gospel  of  God,  as  "concerning  his  Son 
Jesus   Christ   our  Lord,  who  was   made   of 


64:  THE   TWO  NATURES   OF   CHRIST. 

the  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh 
(observe  how  parallel  with  our  text) ;  and 
declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power, 
according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness  ;"  that 
is,  according  to  the  divine  nature.  Here 
we  have  the  very  same  antithesis  or  con- 
trast as  in  the  text;  first  the  human  na- 
ture, secondly  the   divine   nature. 

After  this  explanation  of  what  the 
words  mean,  we  are  prepared  to  assert,  on 
authority  of  inspiration,  that  Christ  Jesus 
the  Lord  has  two  natures.  This  is  de- 
nied by  all  Socinians  and  others,  who 
maintain  that  the  Lord  Jesus  was  a  mere 
man;  only  differing  from  others  in  this, 
that  he  was  the  best  of  prophets  and  the 
best  of  men.  They  admit  only  a  single 
nature,  and  scout  the  idea  of  two  natures 
in  one  person;  a  union  which  their  amazing 
advancement  into  the  wonders  of  the  Di- 
vine nature  authorizes  them  to  declare  ab- 
surd and   impossible. 

The  doctrine  of  Christ's  two  natures 
likewise  met  with  opposition  from  another 
quarter,  that  is  to  say  from  some  who  ad- 
mitted the  divinity  of  our  Lord.  A  noted 
teacher  and  leader,  Eutyches  by  name,  lived 


THE  TWO  NATURES  OF  CHRIST.  65 

at  Constantinople,  in  the  fifth  century.  In 
striving  to  combat  Nestorius  and  others, 
who  separated  the  human  and  the  divine 
so  as  to  make  two  persons,  Eutyches  sought 
to  deny  two  natures.  He  readily  admitted 
that  there  were  originally  two  natures,  that 
the  Godhead  and  the  humanity  had  been 
distinct ;  but  that  upon  the  incarnation,  the 
two  became  one  *  Thus  the  human  nature 
was  by  him  turned  into  the  divine.  The 
lower  was  absorbed  into  the  higher:  to 
use  their  own  expression  the  human  was 
swallowed  up  in  the  Divine.  There  is  no 
ground  for  this  in  the  Scriptures.  It  is 
not  said  that  the  flesh  was  made  the 
Word,  but  that  the  Word  was  made  flesh. 
Throughout  the  Gospel  account  we  find 
both  natures  remaining,  in  mysterious  union, 
yet  perfectly  distinct.  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  "being  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  of 
one  substance  and  equal  with  the  Father,  in 
the  fulness  of  time  became  man,  and  so 
was,  and  continueth  to  be,  God  and  man, 
in  two  entire  distinct  natures,  and  one  per- 
son forever."     This  is  the  clear  New  Testa- 

*  Pearson  on  the   Creed,  Art.  3.  p.  246. 


66  THE  TWO  NATURES  OF  CHRIST. 

ment  account.  (Gal.  4:4.)  "  God  sent  forth 
his  Son  made  of  a  woman?  Yet  the  mi- 
raculous conception  and  birth  resulted  in 
more  than  man;  it  was  more  than  a  mere 
man  produced  by  divine  miraculous  power. 
(Luke  1:35.)  "That  holy  thing  which 
shall  be  born  of  thee,  shall  be  called  the 
Son  of  God?  The  infant  Saviour  was  at 
once  Son  of  Mary  and  Son  of  God.  And 
in  his  humanity  was  divine  perfection  in- 
corporated: "for  in  him  dwelleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."  Col.  2: 
9.  This  is  by  no  means  a  theological 
nicety.  There  are  times  in  every  ripe  ex- 
perience when  we  taste  the  sweetness  of 
recognizing  our  Redeemer  in  each  of  his 
natures.  We  behold  them  blended  and  yet 
not  in  confusion.  Did  he  cease  to  be  man, 
we  should  miss  that  chief  tie,  which  binds 
us  to  divinity — that  chief  source  of  sympa- 
thetic confidence — and  that  chief  glory  of 
our  nature.  Did  he  cease  to  be  God,  we 
should  feel  ourselves  thrown  back  in  the 
matter  of  salvation  on  the  resources  of 
bare  human  nature,  the  strength  of  a  great 
prophet  and  martyr.  There  could  be  no 
bringing    together,   as    now,   of    the    divine 


THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  67 

and   the  human.     And   on   the    other  hand, 
this  divinity  and  this  humanity,  equally  dis- 
tinct   objects    of    our    vision,    and    equally 
precious   to   our  faith,    exist  in   one   Christ, 
sole   and    undivided;    one    glorious   Person, 
whose   name  is   Wonderful,  and  whose   like 
is  not  in  the  universe.     This  has   been  the 
doctrine  of    the    Catholic   Church   for    hun- 
dreds of  years.     Heretics  and  errorists  have 
gone   off    on   one    hand  and   on    the    other, 
but  the   great  body  of    universal   Christen- 
dom has   held  the   same    established    path. 
Nor  was  this  one  of  the  matters  in  regard 
to    which   our    fathers    made    their    protest 
at    the    time     of    the     Keformation.       The 
Church  even  of  Koine  was  sound  in  regard 
to  the  two  natures  of  Christ.     The  Council  of 
Trent  and  the  Confession  of  Augsburg  here 
speak  the  same  language.     "We  have  no  quar- 
rel at  this   point  with   even   popish   tenets. 
The  place  where  reformed  theology  diverged, 
where  the   dominant  Church  had  wandered 
from     apostolic     teaching,    and     where     we 
have   returned  to   it,  is  in  the  doctrines  of 
grace  and  justification — the  fall  of  man  and 
his  recovery.     But    as    to   the   triune    God 
and    the    preexistence    of    Christ,   the    true 


68  THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST. 

and  Scriptural  doctrine  was  enounced,  set- 
tled, and  put  beyond  dispute,  before  the 
great  schism,  a  division  between  the  East 
and  West.  Hence  nothing  can  be  more 
exact  or  discriminating  more  full  and  sat- 
isfactory than  the  ancient  creeds  in  the 
Greek  language.  And  the  doctrine  of  two 
natures  in  one  Christ  is  clearly  made 
known   in   the  words   of  our   text. 

I.  It  declares  that  Christ  our  Mediator 
is  God.  There  are  reasons  for  this  stu- 
pendous truth  which,  I  suppose,  neither  men 
nor  angels  can  penetrate:  but  there  are 
other  reasons  which  are  things  revealed, 
and,  as  such,  belong  to  us  and  to  our 
children.  (1.)  It  pleased  God  to  accom- 
plish our  salvation  by  an  intensity  of  suf- 
fering. That  this  was  necessary,  we  may 
be  sure;  as  God  could  not  otherwise  con- 
sent to  bruise  his  only  begotten  Son.  Suf- 
fering, be  it  observed,  was  an  indispensable 
element  in  the  atoning  world.  ISTo  created 
pencil  could  depict,  no  human  eloquence  or 
tongues  of  angels  describe,  what  passed  in 
the  soul  of  the  Redeemer  at  Gethsemane 
and   Calvary.       Suffering,   raised   to    agony, 


THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  bd 

and  transcending  human  endurance,  was  the 
price  of  our  pardon.  The  Lord  took  flesh 
for  this  very  purpose,  that  he  might  be  a 
sufferer.  The  degree  of  this  suffering  was 
beyond  all  human  strength  to  bear.  Man 
could  have  borne  much  under  uncommon 
supports  of  grace ;  but  the  utmost  so  en- 
dured would  have  fallen  short  of  atoning 
for  a  single  additional  soul:  what  shall  we 
say  of  atoning  for  millions ;  of  atonement 
ample  for  a  world  ! 

The  wrath  of  God  is  not  an  unmeaning 
term :  it  was  due  to  us ;  it  was  borne  by 
Jesus.  To  bear  it  required  the  sustentation 
of  the  divine  nature.  The  penalty  of  the 
law  was  death ;  not  merely  the  pang  of 
dissolution,  but  that  heavier  death  which 
finite  beings  could  not  have  exhausted  in 
an  eternity.  Christ  tasted  of  this  death. 
God  raised  him  up,  "having  loosed  the 
pains  of  death;  because  it  was  not  possible 
that  he  should  be  holden  by  it."  The 
Divine  nature  bore  up  the  human  under 
unparalleled  and  awful  sufferings,  but  for 
which  support  it  would  have  sunk  and 
perished.  The  universe  beheld  the  glo- 
rious sight,  of  one  like  ourselves,  and  under 


70  THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CUEIST. 

our  yoke,  made  strong  to  suffer,  and  open- 
ing a  boundless  capacity  for  the  reception 
of  pains,  before  which  simple  humanity 
would  have  vanished  in  a  moment.  The 
divine  nature  in  Christ  was  necessary,  that 
the  human  nature  might  endure  the  shock. 
2.  The  threefold  functions  of  our  Lord, 
in  suffering  for  us,  obeying  for  us,  and  in- 
terceding for  us,  are  all  dependent  on  his 
personal  merit.  The  value  of  suffering  is  in 
the  dignity  of  the  sufferer.  The  value  of 
obedience  is  in  the  dignity  of  him  who 
obeys.  And  the  prevalence  of  intercession 
depends  on  the  influence  and  glory  of  the 
intercessor.  In  each  of  these  three  offices 
the  power  of  a  mere  man  would  reach  but 
a  little  way.  His  pangs  were  next  to  use- 
less, at  best  but  martyrdom.  His  obedience 
were  no  more  than  payment  of  his  own 
debt.  And  his  prayers  for  others  at  the 
court  of  heaven  might  prove  as  inefficacious 
as  those  of  Jeremiah  or  of  Job  or  of  Samuel. 
But  add  divinity,  that  is  infinitude  —  and 
how  does  the  mediatorial  work  tower  above 
all  reach  of  computation !  Now  we  see  why 
the  Messiah  must  be  God.  The  divine  na- 
ture   becomes    the   golden    altar,    on  which 


THE   TWO  NATUEES   OF   CHEIST.  71 

the  human  body  and  soul  of  Jesus  is  laid, 
a  spotless  victim:  and  the  "altar  sanctifieth 
the  gift."  The  obedience  to  law  of  the 
Son  of  God,  born  of  a  woman,  made  under 
the  law,  is  such  as  honours  that  law  more 
than  all  angelic  rectitude  could  do,  and 
becomes  such  a  righteousness  as  that  by  it 
"many  may  be  made  righteous."  And  in 
the  heavenly  court  what  can  resist  the 
pleadings  of  God's  well  beloved  Son;  whom 
the  Father  heareth  alway?  Such  dignity 
is  conferred  upon  all  these  parts  of  the 
mediatorial  work,  that  even  those  which  are 
primarily  transacted  in  the  human  nature, 
as  all  suffering  and  all  obedience  must  be, 
are  nevertheless  regarded  as  divine,  by  rea- 
son of  the  intimate  union  of  the  divine 
and  human  natures.  The  Scriptures  attri- 
bute to  one  what  in  strictness  of  speech 
belongs  only  to  the  other.  Thus  we  are 
taught  Acts  20.  28  "to  feed  the  church 
of  God,  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his 
own  blood."  And  on  the  other  hand  the 
Son  of  Man  John  3  :  13,  is  said  to  be 
then  in  heaven.  Indeed  it  is  so  evident 
that  divinity  is  necessary  to  propitiation  and 
vicarious   obedience,  that   as  soon  as  a  man 


72  THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST. 

gives  up  tile  proper  divinity  of  Christ,  he 
gives  up  the  atonement.  Or,  to  speak  more 
properly,  when  he  has  given  up  the  atone- 
ment, he  sees  that  he  has  abandoned  all 
that  made  a  divine  nature  necessary  in 
Messiah,  and  so  he  denies  any  such  divine 
nature.  This  is  the  pedigree  of  Unitarian- 
ism.  The  first  step  in  this  series  of  errors 
is  the  rejection  of  substitution,  and  of  a 
properly  penal  character  in  the  sufferings 
of  Christ.  By  a  natural  process  this  leads 
down  to  the  gulf  of  Socinian  unbelief.  If 
the  Mediator  had  not  been  God,  there 
would  have  been  no  efficacy  in  his  media- 
torial work. 

3.  The  satisfaction  of  divine  Justice 
which  is  involved  in  every  just  notion  of 
Atonement,  demands  something  more  than 
man.  The  wound  inflicted  by  sin,  on  God's 
declarative  glory,  was  too  deej3  to  be 
healed  by  the  holy  life  or  temporary  pain 
of  the  best  of  men,  even  though  he  were 
immaculate.  There  are  teachers  abroad, 
brethren,  who  will  tell  you,  that  there  is 
no  such  satisfaction;  that  it  was  no  part 
of  Christ's  errand;  and  that  in  regard  to 
pardoned   sinners  God's  justice  is  never  sat- 


THE  TWO  NATURES   OF  CHRIST.  73 

isfied.  Pardon  is  therefore  an  act  of  abso- 
lute divine  sovereignty;  and  might  as  well, 
so  far  as  appears,  have  followed  the  obla- 
tion of  a  lamb,  as  the  oblation  of  Christ. 
According  to  our  view,  the  oblation  of 
Christ  was  necessary,  because  justice  had 
been  so  signally  insulted,  that  no  reparation 
could  be  sufficient,  but  that  which  offered 
the  covenanted  humiliation  of  an  infinite 
person ;  and  to  render  this,  God  became 
man.  4  In  carrying  out  the  same  glori- 
ous purpose,  the  Redeemer  procures  God's 
favour  for  his  people,  in  his  divine  char- 
acter, as  Son  of  God;  "to  the  praise  of 
the  glory  of  his  grace,  &c."  He  carries 
this  point  with  a  vehemence  of  triumphant 
authority  and  resistless  right.  5  So  also 
he  arose  from  the  struggle  of  his  human 
sufferings  as  the  Head  of  a  countless  reti- 
nue, all  ransomed  by  his  arm  and  bought 
to  be  his  followers;  inasmuch  as  "he  gave 
himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself 
a  people,  zealous  of  good  works."  Nor 
is  he  content  with  leading  them;  he  reigns 
over  them,  subdues  and  holds  in  check  all 
their  enemies,  and  abides  their  everlasting 
4 


74  THE  TWO  NATURES   OF  CHRIST. 

Head.  Sending  down  upon  them  by 
promise  that  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whom 
wTe  cannot  for  a  moment  conceive  to  be 
at  the  bidding  of  a  glorified  man,  however 
exalted.  In  all  these  particulars  we  clearly 
perceive  how  truly  it  was  requisite  that 
the   Mediator  should   be  very   God. 

II.  The  text  declares  that  Christ  our 
Mediator  is  man  :  "  Of  whom,  as  concern- 
ing the  flesh,  Christ  came."  It  is  unne- 
cessary to  prove  that  the  word  "  flesh " 
in  this  passage  is  not  taken  in  any  one  of 
those  several  New  Testament  acceptations, 
which  involve  the  conception  of  sin.  "  In 
him  was  no  sin."  Neither  does  it  mean 
the  human  body  alone ;  as  if  the  Divine 
Nature  had  merely  assumed  a  body,  and 
been  the  sole  animating  principle  of  this 
body,  without  any  human  spirit.  The  Son 
of  God  took  to  himself  a  true  body  and 
a  reasonable  soul.  We  seldom  meet  in  our 
day,  with  any  followers  of  those  ancient  here- 
tics,* who  denied  the  existence  of  a  human 
soul  in  Christ.  The  tendency  of  the  age  is 
too  much  away  from  the   spiritual   and   the 

*  Apollinarists,  Bretschneider,  §  98. 


THE   TWO  NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  75 

mystical  to  favour  this  class  of  errors :  the 
opposite  class  is  rife — those  I  mean  which 
grow  out  of  rationalism,  which  sink  the 
divinity,  and  represent  our  Mediator  as 
man  and  only  man.  Nevertheless  we  must 
not  allow  extremes  on  this  side  to  drive 
us  from  the  important  and  indispensable 
work  of  holding  forth  the  Lord's  human- 
ity. He  is  true  and  proper  man,  having 
taken  the  nature  not  of  angels,  but  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham.  In  this  sense  Paul 
declares  him  to  have  come  of  Israel  "ac- 
cording to  the  flesh."  The  phrase  is  de- 
lightfully illustrated  by  1  Tim.  3  :  16 : 
"  Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness :  God 
was  manifest  in  the  flesh  ....  seen 
of  angels :"  as  if  even  angels  could  see 
God  only  by  means  of  incarnation.  Again, 
"  God  sent  his  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sin- 
ful flesh."  In  Peter's  sermon  at  Pentecost 
Acts  2 :  30  he  quotes  David  of  whom 
he  says,  "  Being  a  prophet,  and  knowing 
that  God  had  sworn  with  an  oath  to  him, 
that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins  according  to 
the  flesh — he  would  raise  up  Messiah  to 
sit  on  his  throne."  How  unmeaning  would 
such  words    be    ('  according   to    the    flesh ') 


76  THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST. 

if  Messiah,  was  to  exist  according  to  no 
other  nature !  But  our  present  use  of 
them  is  to  illustrate  the  text,  and  affirm 
the  human  nature  of  Messiah.  "The  Word 
was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us." 
Confident  of  your  belief  of  this  august 
doctrine,  permit  me  to  give  a  few  rea- 
sons why  it  was  requisite  that  our  Me- 
diator should  be  Man.  1  Great  is  the 
advantage  my  brethren  of  holding  fast 
to  the  representative  principle  in  religion. 
It  is  a  key  that  opens  many  theological 
locks.  All  that  Christ  does  as  Mediator 
he  does  representatively.  He  acts  as  a 
public  person.  He  transacts  for  many. 
This  led  him  to  become  man.  It  is  far 
too  low  a  view  of  the  subject  to  think 
of  Christ  as  standing  off  at  a  distance 
and  conferring  benefits  on  man.  No ;  in 
order  to  transact  on  man's  behalf,  he  be- 
comes man.  In  this  nature  he  makes 
the  awful  plunge  into  abysses  of  degrada- 
tion and  pain :  in  this  nature  he  emerges, 
ascends  and  carries  up  our  manhood  in  a 
glorious  exaltation.  The  human  nature 
sits  in  Christ  Jesus  on  an  eminence  which 
could    never    have    been    reached,    but    by 


THE  TWO  NATURES  OF   CHRIST.  77 

the  incarnation.  Christ  must  needs  be- 
come man,  if  he  would  exalt  man's  nature. 
2  In  the  progress  of  this  unparalleled 
representative  work,  it  was  necessary  that 
obedience  should  be  rendered  to  Law. 
Here  you  have  a  second  reason  for  the 
manhood  of  Christ.  As  God  he  could 
not  be  amenable — he  could  not  obey.  As 
a  person,  combining  godhead  and  humanity, 
he  could,  and  did,  hold  himself  subject  to 
the  legal  demands.  "  By  the  obedience  of 
one  shall  many  be  made  righteous."  This 
active  righteousness  was  accomplished  by 
Christ,  standing  at  the  head  of  the  vast 
column  of  believers,  and  for  them ;  and 
consists  in  the  totality  of  his  holy  princi- 
ples, thoughts,  feelings,  purposes,  words, 
works,    and   abstinences   from   evil. 

3  But  our  thoughts  become  still  more 
solemn  when  we  consider  the  grand  es- 
sential part  of  the  Atonement,  that  is,  the 
suffering  of  Christ.  It  was  necessary  that 
he  should  suffer ;  and  yet  except  in  hu- 
manity he  could  not  suffer.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, God  can  no  more  suffer,  than  he  can 
cease  to  exist.  If  in  certain  passages  he 
is   said  to   suffer,   and   to   die,  it  is   so  said 


78  THE   TWO  NATURES  OF   CHRIST. 

only  in  the  same  sense  in  which  he  is 
said  to  shed  his  blood.  God  (need  I  say 
it)  has  no  blood,  except  the  blood  of  his 
assumed  humanity,  and  God  in  like  man- 
ner has  no  suffering,  but  the  suffering  of 
his  assumed  humanity.  This  humanity 
was  assumed  for  the  very  reason  that 
there  could  be  no  suffering  without  it. 
But  when  the  humanity  is  assumed,  and 
God  and  man  united  in  one  Person,  the- 
ology attributes  to  the  undivided  person 
the  acts  and  attributes  of  either  nature ; 
nay,  even  attributes  to  one  nature  the  acts 
and  attributes  of  the  other  nature.  Oom- 
municatio  idiomatwn.  Hence  we  explain 
all  expressions  which  ascribe  suffering  to 
Jehovah,  who  would  cease  to  be  Jehovah, 
the  moment  he  ceased  to  be  happy.  "  For- 
asmuch then  as  the  children  are  partakers 
of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  like- 
wise took  part  of  the  same  ;  that  through 
death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death."  For  all  the  common 
purposes  of  daily  Christian  experience  we 
need  no  nice  discriminations.  Let  us  fix 
our  eyes  and  hearts  on  the  One  adorable 
Person,  Christ,  suffering  and  dying  for  us. 


THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  79 

4  Another  reason  is  the  ground  af- 
forded for  the  affectionate  confidence  of 
Christ's  people,  in  troubles  and  tempta- 
tions. He  is  Man,  therefore  he  can  feel 
with  us  !  Who  has  not  admitted  it  a  hun- 
dred times !  Sweet  is  his  human  name, 
Jesus  !  There  are  moments  when  it  is 
the  sweetest  of  his  names :  and  when 
among  his  "  many  crowns"  the  loveliest  is 
his  human  crown  of  thorns.  As  God, 
he  could  indeed  approach  us,  but  how 
could  we  approach  him?  This  is  the 
very  door  to  the  inner  sanctuary.  "For 
we  have  not  a  High  Priest  which  cannot 
be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmi- 
ties; but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as 
we  are,  yet  without  sin."  That  '  holy 
thing'  which  came  of  Israel,  was  our  flesh 
and  blood.  He  too  was  born  of  woman ; 
he  too  was  wearied,  was  wasted,  was  in 
tears  and  blood,  was  in  temptation  and 
death.  In  our  hour  of  anguish  it  is  of 
infinite  consolation  to  resort  to  Christ's 
wounded  humanity,  and  to  bear  our  suf- 
ferings under  the  recollection  that  he  has 
borne  the  same. 

5    The    result    of     all    these    considera- 


80  THE   TWO  NATURES   OF  CHRIST. 

tions  is  that  Christ  is  not  only  a  Lord  and 
Saviour,  "but  "  according  to  the  flesh "  an 
Elder  Brother;  and  by  this  connexion  we 
"  receive  the  adoption  of  sons :"  if  sons, 
heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ. 
Our  language  is  his  language,  namely, 
Abba,  Father !  The  throne  of  God  be- 
comes the  throne  of  grace,  when  we  be- 
hold there,  seated  in  benignant  power,  one 
who  is  very  man  as  well  as  very  God. 
And  our  religious  experience  is  incomplete, 
if  we  do  not  perpetually  refresh  our 
thoughts  with  views  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  man. 

III.  But,  as  was  said  before,  while 
we  contemplate  the  divine  nature  and 
the  human  nature,  as  unconfused,  and 
eternally  distinct,  we  must  equally  con- 
template the  Lord  our  Saviour  as  one 
Christ,  uniting  both  natures  in  One  Per- 
son. There  is  a  divine  fitness  and  beauty 
in  this.  Not  only  are  wre  kept  from  being 
distracted  in  our  thoughts  first  in  one  di- 
rection and  then  in  another,  but  we  find 
a  relief  in  knowing  that  here  is  a  "Days- 
man   betwixt    us,"     Job    9 :  33,     that    may 


THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  81 

"lay    his    hand    upon    both."      The    great 
work     was     to    reconcile     God    and    man: 
here   is    a    glorious    Person    who     is     both 
God   and  man.     God   so  looks   on  the    un- 
divided    Person.      God    accepts    the    work 
belonging    to    each    nature,     as    the    work 
of    the   whole    person  —  as    the   work    not 
so    much    of    God  —  or    of   man  —  as    of 
Christ,     at     once      God     and     man.       We 
also    should     so     look     on     the    undivided 
Person;    we   should    by  faith    behold    and 
receive    and    trust    in    the    works    of    each 
nature,     as    the     works     of    one     adorable 
Christ.      I   conceive   it  to   be   important  to 
counsel    all    believers,   and   especially   those 
who  are   young   and  simple-hearted,  to    be- 
ware of  perplexing    their    minds    with    the 
high    points     pertaining    to     this     subject. 
Look  at    Christ.     There    fix    the    eyes    of 
your    mind.     Be    not    overmuch    anxious  to 
discern    what    belongs    to    one    nature,    and 
what  to  the  other.     Fix  your  contemplation 
on  his   Person.     Behold   him    dying,  behold 
him  reigning.     There  is   no   danger    of  go- 
ing  astray,  when  in  your  common  thoughts 
and    prayers,    your    whole    soul  goes   forth 
to     a     single     undivided     object  —  Christ. 
4* 


82  THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST. 

Are  you  feeling  for  his  support,  and  rest- 
ing on  his  sympathies,  as  a  man :  you  do 
well — he  is  bone  of  your  bone  and  flesh 
of  your  flesh.  Are  you  praying  to  him, 
as  God.  You  do  well  —  you  do  no 
more  than  dying  Stephen,  who  said  "Lord 
Jesus  receive  my  Spirit:"  for  he  is  God 
over  all,  blessed  for  ever ! — If  you  wish 
to  have  the  grand  secret  of  religion 
couched  in  a  single  maxim  ;  if  you  would 
learn  how  to  be  reconciled  and  how  to 
abide  so ;  if  you  would  be  strengthened 
against  temptation,  if  you  would  be  holy 
and  happy,  take  this  rule :  Look  to  Christ  ! 
Just  so  much  piety  have  you,  as  you  have 
Christ  in  your  thoughts.  Lay  it  before 
your  minds  as  the  great  Christian  lesson  of 
your  lives,  to  study  the  person  of  Christ. 
Make  it  your  delightful  task,  to  become  more 
and  more  acquainted  with  it.  As  you  would 
diligently  traverse  a  great  domain,  every 
part  of  which  you  were  bound  to  know 
— so  set  yourself  to  expatiate  over  the 
character  and  personality  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  recorded  in  the  Scriptures.  Begin  the 
New  Testament  and  never  stop  reading  it 
over   and    over,    with    this    very    thing    in 


THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  83 

view,  to  learn  more  and  more  of  the  Lord. 
His  own  light  will  shine  on  his  own  glo- 
rious countenance,  and  as  you  read  again 
and  again,  you  will  see  its  lineaments 
radiant  with  higher  and  higher  illumina- 
tion;  each  adorable  feature  will  be  more 
distinct  and  familiar ;  you  will  know  it 
better ;  as  the  face  of  a  friend  of  a  bro- 
ther of  a  Christ  (for  all  other  words 
come  short) ;  you  will  feel  the  fleshly 
tablet  of  your  heart  receiving  the  rays 
from  this  c  Shining  in  the  face  of  Jesus ;' 
and  as  you  feel  the  reflection  of  this  Sun 
of  righteousness,  you  will  own  an  unwonted 
glow ;  beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  you  will  be  changed  into  the 
same  image.  The  work  of  inward  assimi- 
lation is  going  on.  As  you  hold  the  soul, 
by  loving  contemplation,  in  these  beams, 
the  pencil  of  heavenly  light  is  drawing 
Christ's  image  within  you.  The  table  of 
the  heart  is  becoming  his  best  and  most 
cherished  portrait.  Desist  not  then  from 
such  .study  of  his  person  as  shall  cause 
you,  day  by  day,  to  be  more  reflective  of 
his  image. 

It  follows  from  this,  that  I  consider  the 


84  THE  TWO  NATURES  OF   CHRIST. 

deliberate  and  perpetually  increasing  study 
of  Christ's  person,  in  the  New  Testament, 
as  the  principal  means  of  grace.  If  you 
hnoiv  Christ,  you  hwiv  every  thing.  Here 
there  can  be  no  excess.  You  cannot  by 
possibility,  visit  him  too  often,  or  love  him 
too  much.  This  daily  endeavour  to  fix 
your  heart  on  the  person  of  Christ,  God 
and  man,  will  regulate  all  your  other 
experience.  Never  fear  lest  it  make  you 
a  one-sided  Christian,  It  is  the  very  means 
of  symmetry.  Because  it  is  looking  at  the 
central-point  of  the  painting.  All  other 
truths,  as  subordinate,  will  fall,  of  them- 
selves, into  their  true  relation.  Open  your 
bible  every  day,  with  the  inquiry,  What 
more  can  I  this  day  learn  of  Christ  ?  Try 
to  live  over  the  scenes  of  the  type-proph- 
ecy of  gospel  history,  with  the  eye  always 
on  him  whom  you  love.  Begin  in  Eternity. 
Proceed  to  Bethlehem — to  Egypt — to  Naz- 
areth— to  the  Temple.  Follow  him,  in- 
creasing in  stature  and  in  favor  both  with 
God  and  man.  Mingle-  with  the  throng, 
and  approach  him,  on  the  crowded  high- 
ways, beside  the  lake,  at  Jordan,  at  the 
feasts.       Join    yourself    to    a   more    favored 


THE   TWO   NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  85 

few,  and  penetrate  to  his  miracles,  to  his 
sermons,  to  his  transfiguration,  to  his  pas- 
chal supper,  to  his  passion,  resurrection  and 
ascension.  Follow  him  upwards,  and  re- 
member him  as  "Jesus  Christ,  the  same 
yesterday  to  day  and  forever."  As  you  do 
this;  as  you  dwell  on  his  peculiar  traits; 
as  you  gain  light  on  mysteries;  as  you 
perceive  at  one  time  his  humanity,  and  at 
another  time  his  godhead,  most  prominent; 
you  will  be  disposed  with  Paul  to  add 
your  loud  response,  to  the  declaration  of 
the  text,  "  Of  whom  as  concerning  the 
flesh  Christ  came  who  is  over  all  God 
blessed  forever."  I  say  you  will  from  a 
full  heart  add  Amen  ! 


IV. 
THE  HYMN  OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 


THE  HYMN  OF  THE  EUCHAEIST. 


Matt.  26 :  30. 


"And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn,  they  went  out  into 
the  Mount  of  Olives." 


In  some  respects  this  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  statements  in  the  life  of  our 
Saviour.  We  have  seen  him  in  various 
conditions  and  circumstances,  in  prayer,  in 
teaching,  in  frequent  suffering  and  once  in 
joy,  but  never  before  in  the  exercise  of 
vocal  praise.  Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  took  his  part  with  devout  Israel- 
ites in  the  songs  of  the  temple-service,  and 
we  may  readily  imagine  that  as  well  in 
the  social  group  of  disciples,  as  in  the 
more  .  sacred  devotions  of  the  private 
hour,  his  pure  and  lofty  affections  found 
vent  in  holy  psalmody,  of  which  this  is 
the    appropriate    and    sometimes    the    only 


90  THE   HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST. 

adequate  utterance.  In  following  the  series 
of  events  in  our  Lord's  earthly  history,  we 
have  followed  him  to  the  very  eve  of  his 
great  suffering.  "We  have  sat  with  him  at 
his  sacramental  table,  and  listened  to  those 
simple,  touching  and  profound  discourses, 
which  he  spake  in  that  hour  of  wistful 
expectation.  But  now  the  Tittle  assembly 
is  broken  up.  The  traitor  has  departed 
on  his  walk  of  avarice  and  hate.  The  em- 
blems of  the  cross  and  passion  have  been 
exchanged  and  received.  They  descend 
from  that  upper  chamber,  and  as  the 
shadows  of  evening  gather  about  them, 
bend  their  steps  to  the  Eastern  ravine, 
through  which  the  Kedron  pours  its  scanty 
rill,  and  upward  on  the  first  ascending 
slope  of  the  Mo  ant  of  Olives.  There,  a 
little  above  the  lowest  part,  was  the  Gar- 
den of  Gethsemane,  affording  among  its 
olive  shades  a  retirement  suited  for  medita- 
tion and  prayer,  to  which  Jesus  had  often 
been  accustomed  to  resort.  But  the  ascent 
hither  is  not  silent.  The  voice  of  harmony 
breaks  upon  the  stillness  of  this  memora- 
ble night.  They  sang  a  hymn.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that    they  sang  it  as    they  walked. 


THE  HYMN   OF  THE  EUCHARIST.  91 

Such  use  of  religious  song  was  not  uncom- 
mon among  the  Hebrews,  in  going  up  to 
their  solemn  feasts ;  it  has  been  adopted  in 
later  days,  in  the  processional  services  of 
funerals  and  other  solemn  rites.  At  such 
an  hour  they  doubtless  sang  from  memory, 
and  therefore  something  with  which  they 
were  familiar.  In  sacred  song,  the  least  of 
all  attendant  charms  is  that  of  novelty. 
The  words  and  tones  which  have  received 
the  additional  loveliness  of  a  thousand  re- 
peated associations,-  surpass  all  others  in 
their  power.  Who  knows,  but  that  the 
hymn  which  they  sang  was  one  in  which 
they  had  joined  again  and  again  with  their 
Lord  and  Master?  It  is  to  be  presumed 
that  they  all  sang.  Such  was  the  custom 
of  the  Jewish  Church.  It  is  not  hinted 
that  Peter  or  James  or  John  performed 
this  service  vicariously,  as  proxies  for  the 
rest.  Which  of  the  eleven,  would  willingly 
have  been  dumb,  at  such  a  moment,  if 
only  he  comprehended  the  significancy  of 
the  hour?  The  voice  which  would  have 
been  out  of  tune,  was  absent,  muttering, 
it  may  be,  falsehood  and  perfidy  in  the 
ear  of  priests  and   pharisees.     They  sang  a 


92  THE   HYMN   OF  THE   EUCHARIST. 

hymn.  The  disciples  sang.  Could  we  fully 
reproduce  the  strain,  we  should  find  in  it 
probably  nothing  that  meets  the  requisition 
of  artistic  taste.  But  it  was  assuredly 
elevated  by  the  high  solemnity  of  the 
scene,  and  broken  into  tremulous  notes  by 
the   gush   of    pensive   emotion. 

Jesus  bang.  This  is  a  point  not  to  be 
forgotten.  Though  not  expressly  said,  it  is 
distinctly  implied.  That  sacred  voice,  which 
spake  as  never  man  spake,  now  poured 
forth  the  sentiments  of  an  unblemished 
devotion,  in  the  hour  of  all  others  the 
most  pregnant  and  affecting.  If  feeling  be 
the  soul  of  song,  there  must  have  been 
conveyed  into  those  notes  a  world  of  mys- 
terious meaning.  Is  it  wrong;  to  wish  that 
we  could  have  listened  to  that  voice  ? 
Yet  we  mi^ht  have  listened  and  been  no 
better.  How  often  had  Judas  heard  the 
words  of  blessing  from  those  lips — yet 
presently  he  is  coming  to  profane  them 
by  his  hellish  kiss !  Let  us  not  ixish  our 
inquiries  into  that  which  is  not  for  edifi- 
cation, as  beins:  unrevealed.  The  fact  that 
Jesus  sang,  is  basis  enough  for  certain  re- 
flections, which  we  desire  shortly  to  build 
upon   it. 


THE   HYMN   OF  THE   EUCHARIST.  93 

More    profitable    is   it    to    inquire   what 
was  the  subject  of  their  song.     'They  sang 
a   hymn.'     Our   modern   acceptation  of    the 
term    is   somewhat    restricted.      It   was   not 
so   in  ancient   times.     Any  religious  compo- 
sition adapted  to  singing  was  called  a  hymn. 
Some    have   endeavoured    to   limit    it   to   a 
special   class  of  Hebrew  odes;   but  without 
sufficient  reason.     The  presumption  is  strong, 
that  they  sang  one  of  the  inspired  Psalms. 
These  were  employed  in   the   glorious  wor- 
ship  of    the    temple.      For    this    very   pur- 
pose   the    heavenly   inspiration    came    upon 
Moses,  David,   Asaph,    and   other  rapt  seers 
and  poets.     To  this  day  the  Psalter  stands 
as  the  great  treasury  of  praise  and  prayer, 
the  authentic  liturgy  of  the   Church,  which 
can  never    grow   obsolete;    which    presents 
every    varying    mood    of    holy    experience; 
and  by   its   divine   flexibility  and  expansion 
is  equally  suited   to  every  revolving  period 
of  the  body  of  Christ.     It  almost  seems  as 
if    by   a   wise   provision,   the    later    psalms, 
which'   are    triumphal    and    jubilant,    as    if 
for   a    palm-bearing    multitude    and    an   ac- 
companiment  of    harp   and    cymbal,    should 
stand   last  in  the   collection;    as   too   much 


94  THE   HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST. 

beyond  our  common  experience  to  be  in 
unison  with  the  frames  of  a  striving  and 
militant  church,  and  so  awaiting  a  day 
when  the  latter  glory  shall  be  fitly  cele- 
brated by  anthems  of  loftiest  joy  and 
exultation.  But  the  psalms  are  not  all 
rapturous.  The  chords  are  sometimes 
touched  to  the  softest  notes  of  penitence 
and  sorrow.  And  hence  in  their  wonderful 
modulations  from  confession  to  praise,  they 
suit  themselves  to  all  conditions  of  be- 
lievers and  the  church.  By  the  Israelitish 
worshipper,  they  were  sung  without  metre 
and  without  rhyme ;  just  as  they  stand  in 
our  Hebrew  Bibles.  In  this  way  were 
they  used  by  early  Christian  assemblies. 
And  there  is  no  reason  why  our  admir- 
able prose  version  should  not  be  so  used 
now,  except  our  fond  attachment  to  the 
tradition  of  a  metrical  paraphrase.  There 
can  be  conceived  no  mode  of  singing  God's 
praise,  more  simple,  grave,  impressive  and 
truly  Protestant,  than  the  chanting  of  the 
very  words  of  Scripture  by  all  the  voices 
of  a  congregation.  Such — almost  beyond  a 
doubt — was  the  sacramental  hymn  after 
this  first  communion.     The   Psalms  are   full 


THE  HYMN  OF  THE  EUCHAKIST.  95 

of  passages  which  relate  to  Messiah,  and 
to  this  particular  stage  in  his  humiliation. 
It  is  most  natural  to  think  that  some  one 
of  these  was  adopted  by  our  blessed  Mas- 
ter, at  this  moment  of  tenderness.  There 
are  numerous  psalms,  to  which  we  can 
affix  no  clear,  consistent  meaning,  until  we 
regard  the  sacred  poet  as  speaking  in  the 
name  of  Messiah;  and  it  is  remarkable 
how  many  such  passages  have  reference  to 
his  death,  and  even  to  its  lesser  circum- 
stances. Conjecture  is  not  wrong,  if  we 
do  not  erect  its  results  into  divine  certain- 
ties. May  not  the  hymn  have  been  the 
xxiid  Psalm?  beginning  with  words  which 
thrill  the  soul:  "My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me!"  What  a  touching 
anticipation  of  the  cross,  in  v.  8th,  "  He 
trusted  in  the  Lord  that  he  would  deliver 
him; — let  him  deliver  him,  seeing  he  de- 
lighted in  him."  Or  the  18th,  "They  part 
my  garments  among  them,  and  cast  lots 
upon  my  vesture." — Or  who  shall  say  that 
it  was  not  the  lxixth  psalm?  From  such 
lips,  what  a  pathos  in  the  lamenting  notes: 
"The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  eaten  me 
up;    and  the   reproaches   of    them  tha+   re- 


96  THE   HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST. 

proaclied  thee  are  fallen  upon  me.  Ee- 
proacli  hath  broken  my  heart,  and  I  am 
full  of  heaviness;  and  I  looked  for  some 
to  take  pity,  but  there  was  none ;  and 
for  comforters,  but  I  found  none ;  they 
gave  me  also  gall  for  my  meat;  and  in 
my  thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to  drink." 
Or  peradventure,  by  that  Kedron,  he  may 
have  sung  in  words  of  the  cxth  Psalm, 
"The  Lord  hath  sworn,  and  will  not  re- 
pent, Thou  art  a  priest  forever,  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedek.  He  shall  drink  of 
the  brook  in  the  way;  therefore  shall  he 
lift  up  the  head."  But  whatever  may  have 
been  the  burden  of  that  parting  song,  we 
know  that  they  "  sang  a  hymn"  before 
they   went  into   the   Mount   of   Olives. 

1.  In  these  words  there  is  a  fearful 
import.  They  went  out  into  the  mount — 
they  went  to  Gethsemane — they  went  to  the 
scene  of  agony.  The  passion  of  our  Lord, 
in  both  its  principal  parts,  took  place  be- 
yond the  walls  of  the  Holy  City,  as  if  to 
add  new  ignominy  to  the  humiliation  of 
his  sin  bearing.  "For  the  bodies  of  those 
beasts,  whose  blood  is  brought  into  the 
sanctuary   by   the   High   Priest  for   sin,  are 


THE   HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST.  97 

burned  without  the  camp;"  the  typical 
vicariousness  of  the  suffering  having  tainted, 
as  it  were,  the  sacrifice  with  imputed 
guilt.  "  Wherefore,"  adds  the  Apostle  to 
the  Hebrews,  "Jesus  also,  that  he  might 
sanctify  the  people  with  his  own  blood, 
suffered  without  the  gate."  To  suffer  thus, 
he  was  now  going.  There  was  a  full  fore- 
sight of  all  that  was  to  come  upon  him. 
From  the  beginning  his  eye  had  steadily 
contemplated  it,  and  he  had  repeatedly 
foretold  it  to  his  disciples.  He  had  power 
over  his  life,  it  was  not  taken  from  him 
reluctantly  or  unawares.  He  advanced  with 
sublime  composure  to  the  altar,  and  was 
not  dragged  thither  as  a  shrinking  or  re- 
sisting victim.  "He  is  brought  as  a  lamb 
to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before 
her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not 
his  mouth."  This  was  therefore  a  moment 
of  deep  sorrow.  "Sorrow  hath  filled  your 
hearts:"  he  just  now  said  to  his  disciples; 
but  what  must  have  filled  his  own?  The 
skirt  of  that  dense  cloud,  into  which  he 
was  entering,  must  have  cast  over  him 
some  of  its  awful  obscuration.  For  it  was 
but  a  few  moments,  before  he  was  pros- 
5 


98  THE  HYMN  OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

trate  on  the  earth,  his  soul  exceeding  sor- 
rowful, even  unto  death.  For  this  he  was 
now  going  to  the  Mount  of  Olives ;  to 
agony  as  yet  unknown  in  the  universe, 
and  never  to  be  repeated.  And  yet,  thus 
going,    they  sang   a   hymn. 

2.  Is  it  not  a  fair  conclusion,  that  sa- 
cred song  adapts  itself  to  seasons  of  the 
deepest  grief?  It  is  true  the  Apostle 
James  says,  "Is  any  afflicted,  let  him  pray 
— is  any  merry  let  him  sing  psalms."  But 
the  voice  of  melody  is  not  confined  to  the 
expression  of  joy,  but  by  its  admirable 
versatility  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  convey 
sadness  and  despondency.  Music  and  poe- 
try agree  in  this.  When  the  inspiration 
of  soul  is  present,  the  attempt  to  pour 
out  our  sorrows  in  verse  and  subdued  song, 
is  not  affectation,  but*  nature.  The  history 
of  all  poetic  compositions  shows  us  this. 
Xone  are  more  memorable  than  "such  as 
in  hours  of  grief  have  been  pressed  out 
of  hearts  swelling  over  with  emotion.  So 
it  is  also  in  the  inspired  psalms.  Even 
when  the  captives  hanged  their  harps  upon 
the  willows,  and  replied,  'How  shall  we 
sing    the    Lord's   song    in   a   strange    land ;' 


THE  HYMN   OF   THE  EUCHARIST.  99 

they  nevertheless  did  sing,  and  the  utter- 
ance of  their  experience  in  exile  is  left  to 
us,  in  that  beautiful  elegy,  'By  the  rivers 
of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down.7  They 
wept,  when  they  remembered  Zion,  but  as 
they  wept,  they  sang.  Religious  sorrow 
occupies  many  of  the  Psalms  of  David ; 
especially  in  their  beginnings ;  for  it  is  in- 
structive to  mark,  how  almost  always  the 
key  changes,  and  how  by  a  spiritual  modu- 
lation, the  song  which  begins  in  lamenting 
ends  in  praise;  through  the  tender  mercies 
of  Him  who  giveth  'beauty  for  ashes,  the 
oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.'  On 
this  point  great  errors  prevail,  so  that 
many  Christians  would  no  more  think  of 
psalmody  than  of  feasting,  in  their  hours 
of  distress.  And  the  mistake  has  perhaps 
been  fostered  by  the  manner  of  our  ordi- 
nary singing  in  God's  worship — so  cold, 
hard,  dry  and  mechanical,  that  it  never 
suggests  itself  as  the  utterance  of  gentler 
and  melting  emotions.  But  could  we  use 
this  means  of  grace  according  to  its  inten- 
tion, and  according  to  its  marvellous  ca- 
pacity of  varied   expression,  we  should  find 


100  THE  HYMN"  OF   THE   EUCHARIST. 

it  the  fittest  and  only  perfect  channel  of 
sentiments  too  sacred  for  the  harsher  in- 
tonations of  ordinary  speech.  Music  has 
its  vehicles  for  the  thoughts  of  the  bur- 
dened, the  penitent,  the  heart  broken  and 
the  dying.  Soft  are  the  tones  and  wail- 
ing the  key,  when  David  murmurs,  as  the 
chords  of  the  harp  scarcely  add  their  re- 
sonance— "My  life  is  spent  with  grief,  and 
my  years  with  sighing:  my  strength  faileth 
because  of  mine  iniquity,  and  my  bones 
are  consumed."  "Forsake  me  not,  O  Lord, 
O  my  God,  be  not  far  from  me.  Make 
haste  to  help  me,  O  Lord,  my  salvation." 
"My  heart  is  sore  pained  within  me;  and 
the  terrors  of  death  are  fallen  1123011  me. 
Fearfulness  and  trembling  are  come  upon 
me,  and  horror  hath  overwhelmed  me. 
And  I  said.  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a 
dove  !  for  then  would  I  fly  away,  and  be 
at  rest !"  The  inspired  devotions  of  the 
Church,  authorize  the  employment  of  song, 
for  the  expression  of  our  most  subdued 
emotions.  If  the  Apostles  sang,  just  as  they 
were  going  out  into  the  mount  of  Olives ; 
if  Jesus  sang,  at  the  moment  just  preced- 
ing   his    betrayal,    agony    and     arrest ;    we 


THE  HYMN  OF  THE   EUCHARIST.  101 

may  surely  feel  justified,  when  deeply  smit- 
ten and  afflicted,  if  we  resort  to  this  me- 
dium of  pouring  forth  sorrows  which  might 
otherwise  prove   inexpressible. 

The  lesson  then  seems  to  be  unequivo- 
cally here :  Songs  of  praise  are  not  to  be 
intermitted  or  silenced  by  seasons  of  great 
affliction.  Here  we  have  the  disciples  and 
their  Lord  on  the  verge  of  their  great 
separation ;  yet  they  cause  the  voice  of 
their  praise  to  be  heard.  The  further  les- 
son is  not  to  be  mistaken;  that  when  our 
religious  feelings  partake  of  sorrow  and 
fear  and  compunction,  we  are  not  the  less 
to  utter  them  in  spiritual  song.  It  is 
often  the  way  to  the  sweetest  solace. 
And  this  is  remarkably  evinced  by  the 
experience  of  David.  I  take  it  for  granted, 
that  his  compositions  are  so  many  leaves 
from  this  experience,  and  that  he  sang 
the  psalms,  which  he  afterward  wrote 
down  for  us.  I  further  suppose,  that, 
under  Divine  inspiration,  his  mind  passed 
through  changes  of  mood  and  temper, 
varied  and  modified  by  the  reflex  oper- 
ation of  his  own  voice  and  instrument. 
Those    who    think    this    remark    derogates 


102  THE  HYMN  OF  THE  EUCHAEIST. 

aught  from  the  directness  of  inspiration, 
can  scarcely  have  considered  the  case  of 
the  ancient  prophets;  in  which  the  illapses 
of  Divine  influence  seem  not  only  to  have 
allowed,  but  demanded,  the  vehicle  of  mu- 
sic. So  it  was  said  by  Samuel  to  Saul — 
"thou  shalt  meet  a  company  of  prophets 
coming  down  from  the  high-place  with  a 
psaltery  and  a  tabret  and  a  pipe  and  a 
harp  before  them ;  and  they  shall  proph- 
esy." 1  Sam.  10:5.  And  when  Eiisha 
was  about  to  receive  the  Divine  influence 
and  work  a  great  miracle  2  Kings  3 : 
15  he  called  for  music,  saying  "Now 
bring  me  a  minstrel;  and  it  came  to  pass, 
when  the  minstrel  played,  that  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  came  upon  him."  Thus  too, 
while  David  was  musing,  the .  fire  burned ; 
and  while  he  was  singing,  his  soul  passed 
through  new  frames,  and  often  emerged 
from  depths  of  horror  into  lofty  thanks- 
givings. 

He  .  begins  a  psalm,  '  Lord  how  are 
they  increased  that  trouble  me.'  He  ends 
it,  '  Salvation  belongeth  unto  the  Lord : 
thy  blessing  is  upon  thy  people.'  He 
begins  :     '  O     Lord     rebuke     me     not      in 


THE   HYMN    OF   THE   EUCHARIST.  103 

thine  anger.'  He  ends :  "  The  Lord  hath 
heard  the  voice  of  my  weeping."  He 
begins  :  "  How  long  wilt  thou  forget 
me,  O  Lord  ?  for  ever  ?"  He  ends :  "  I 
will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  because  he  hath 
dealt  bountifully  with  me."  He  begins: 
"  Deliver  me  from  mine  enemies."  He 
ends :  "  Unto  thee,  O  my  strength,  will  I 
sing;  for  God  is  my  defence,  and  the 
God  of  my  mercy."  He  begins :  "  Out  of 
the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  thee,  O 
Lord."  And  he  ends :  "  Let  Israel  hope  in 
the  Lord,  for  with  the  Lord  there  is 
mercy,  and  with  him  is  plenteous  redemp- 
tion." These  were  so  many  transitions 
of  feeling,  effected  during  holy  song ; 
and  these  songs  are  recorded  for  us,  that 
in  the  use  of  them  we  may  have  a  sol- 
ace, and  in  like  manner  pass  from  grief  to 
exultation.  Be  assured  my  brethren,  there 
are  uses  of  sacred  music  and  uses  of  the 
psalms,  in  regard  to  inward  experience, 
which   many   of  us   have   yet   to   learn. 

There  is  a  principle  involved  in  psalm- 
ody which  extends  widely  in  religion ;  it 
is  that  our  emotions  are  increased  by  due 
utterance.     All  modes   of  utterance    are  not 


104  THE  HYMN   OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

equally  suitable.  For  the  expression  of 
sentiment  and  passion,  it  has  been  admit- 
ted, there  is  nothing  comparable  to  the 
musical  voice.  From  neglecting  this,  there 
are  many  whose  hearts  are  like  a  spring  of 
which  the  flow  is  clogged  by  earth  and 
grass,  so  that  it  never  has  clear  and  unob- 
structed flow.  Not  only  is  the  actual 
amount  of  their  religious  feeling  unex- 
pressed, but  it  abides  at  one  point — it  is 
not  increased — it  has  not  the  modifications 
through  which  it  would  have  passed  by  a 
free  and  generous  expression.  Let  it  be 
placed  high  among  maxims  for  the  im- 
provement of  piety,  that  our  religious  af- 
fections must  have  utterance.  They  must 
not  be  pent  up,  lest  they  wither  and  de- 
cline. It  is  so  with  those  who  restrain 
prayer,  or  who  indulge  in  no  vocal  prayer, 
but  restrict  their  devotions  to  silent  men- 
tal acts.  But  much  larger  is  the  number 
of  those  whose  fountain  dries  up  for  lack 
of  a  frank,  large  and  hearty  psalmody. 
The  great  example  before  us,  in  this  na- 
scent condition  of  the  Church,  demonstrates 
the  importance  of  singing  God's  praise 
together,    even    in    hours    of    the    greatest 


THE    HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST.  105 

tribulation.  Which  of  us  has  not  some 
shortcomings  to  confess,  in  regard  to  this 
duty  ?  How  apt  are  we  to  feel  as  if  pain 
and  Fadness  absolved  us  from  the  tribute 
of  praise  —  at  any  rate,  of  social  praise  ? 
When,  in  truth,  we  can  never  be  brought 
into  circumstances,  in  which  our  mercies 
do  not  immeasurably  outnumber  our  trials ; 
in  other  words,  into  circumstances  where 
there  is  no  call  for  thanksgiving.  Early 
Christians  judged  otherwise.  Not  only 
were  they  speaking  and  admonishing  one 
another,  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spirit- 
ual songs ;  but  when  cast  into  dungeons 
and  their  feet  in  the  stocks,  "  at  midnight 
Paul  and  Silas  prayed  and  sang  praises 
unto  God,  and  the  prisoners  heard  them." 
The  particular  mention  of  this  hymn 
by  two  of  the  Evangelists,  amidst  the  very 
record  of  our  Lord's  death,  shows  clearly 
that  sacred  praise  harmonizes  well  with 
all  the  facts  and  all  the  doctrines  of  the 
atoning  work.  As  has  been  said,  many 
of  the  Old  Testament  psalms  look  forward 
prophetically  towards  these  very  events ; 
and  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Cross  the 
dying  sorrows  of  Jesus  have  formed  a 
5* 


106  THE  HYilX  OF  THE   EUCHARIST. 

chief  portion  of  what  have  been  sung  by 
Christian  assemblies.  It  is  truly  delight- 
ful to  observe,  that  even  amidst  all  the 
errors  and  superstitions  of  the  Latin 
Church,  the  death  of  the  Redeemer  has 
still  held  its  place  in  the  hymus  of  the 
people.  The  same,  without  need  of  quali- 
fication, is  true  of  the  era  of  the  Re- 
formation. In  her  better  days,  Germany, 
above  all  countries,  was  rich  in  evan- 
gelical hymns,  and  especially  in  those  which 
take  us  to  Gethsemane  and  Golgotha.  It 
is  only  when  the  death  of  Christ  becomes 
a  secondary  matter,  and  his  divinity  is  de- 
nied, that  Socinian  criticism  begins  to 
amend  the  hymn-book,  (as  in  some  Euro- 
pean churches)  and  weaken  or  remove  all 
expressions  of  love  to  a  Divine  and  dying 
Saviour.  "When  the  heart  is  full  of  faith 
and  worship,  it  will,  sitting  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross,  long  for  the  twofold  wings  of 
poetry  and  song,  to  rise  and  soar  to  the 
height  of  such  praise  as  befits  the  won- 
drous work-  of  redemption.  In  our  own 
favoured  tongue,  Watts  and  Wesley  and 
Toplady  have  aided  us  with  strains,  which 
either    in    public    or    in    private,    aid    our 


THE  HYMN  OF  THE  EUCHARIST.  107 

thoughts  and  lift  up  our  devotions.  "We 
are  familiar,  from  childhood,  with  their 
words ;  but  O  for  a  coal  from  off  God's 
altar,  to  touch  our  lips  and  inflame  our 
hearts   to   praise ! 

And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn 
they  went  out  into  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
That  is,  they  engaged  in  this  act  of  wor- 
ship, the  only  one  of  the  kind  recorded  of 
our  Lord,  at  a  time  immediately  between 
the  first  Eucharist  and  the  mysterious 
agony  of  the  Garden.  What  could  be  a 
stronger  argument  for  the  authority  and 
fitness  of  sacred  song,  in  connexion  with 
sacramental  communions !  The  ordinance 
was  incomplete,  until  they  had  sung  a 
hymn.  "With  the  anguish,  the  strong  cry- 
ing and  tears,  and  the  bloody  sweat  full 
in  view,  Christ  will  not  go  to  them,  before 
he  has  mingled  his  voice  with  that  of  his 
disciples,  in  audible  praise.  What  a  re- 
buke to  those,  who  look  on  this  part  of 
worship  as  secondary,  as  a  mere  appendage, 
which  they  may  observe  or  omit  at  plea- 
sure, or  as  something  which  they  are  only 
to  witness,  without  any  attempt  at  partici- 
pation !     For  a  service   which  is  named  the 


108  THE  HYMN  OF  THE   EUCHARIST. 

Communion,  nothing  can  be  more  appro- 
priate than  fellowship  of  praise.  According 
to  our  mode  of  conducting  Divine  ser- 
vices, in  other  parts  of  worship  all  are 
silent  but  the  officiating  minister ;  but  in 
psalmody  all  voices  have  the  privilege  of 
joining.  And  when  the  psalm  is  well 
chosen,  and  the  heart  attuned,  what  on 
earth  can  more  nearly  emulate  the  unity 
of  heaven  ! 

It  is  not  unimportant  to  observe,  that 
the  little  group  who  united  in  this  sacra- 
mental hymn,  were  frail  and  imperfect  men 
like  ourselves.  At  this  moment,  no  doubt, 
their  hearts  were  deeply  possessed  with  at- 
tachment to  their  Lord,  and  apprehensions 
more  or  less  clear  of  what  was  soon  to 
befall  him.  But  their  frames,  like  ours, 
were  fitful  and  inconstant.  After  a  little, 
while  their  Lord  was  in  his  agony,  several  of 
them  were  asleep.  Somewhat  later  all  for- 
sook him  and  fled.  And  when  a  remnant 
was  rallied,  the  foremost  among  them  de- 
nied him  repeatedly  and  with  imprecation. 
This  may  serve  us  as  an  admonition,  that 
sacramental  fervours  are  not  to  be  rested 
in,    and  that    we    need    perpetual    renewals 


THE   HYMN   OF  THE   EUCHARIST.  109 

of  grace.  But  now,  we  would  fain  believe, 
there  was  as  true  a  unison  of  sentiment  as 
of  psalmody.  One  voice  there  was,  we 
know  assuredly,  which  then  broke  the  si- 
lence of  the  vale,  in  a  flow  of  devotion 
which  was  absolutely  perfect,  in  kind  and 
in  degree.  The  human  soul  of  Jesus  of- 
fered itself  up,  in  a  worship  which  was  im- 
maculate, sublime,  and  infinitely  acceptable 
to  God.  This  was  true  of  all  his  prayers, 
for  example,  in  solitude,  upon  mountains, 
long  before  day.  "When  now,  leading  his 
sorrowing  flock,  he  woke  the  echoes  of 
crags  and  olive-groves,  with  the  voice  of 
praise,  he  left  a  pattern  to  his  church, 
which  we  should  warmly  imitate.  And  O 
my  brethren,  how  earnest  should  be  our 
desires  for  more  of  the  grace  of  real 
praise !  The  defect  in  this  particular  is 
alarming.  There  may  be  a  pure  creed,  an 
able  ministry,  a  decorous  attendance,  strict 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  punctual  resort 
to  ordinances — and  yet  utter  cleadness  in 
associate  homage  to  our  God  and  Saviour. 
How  often  is  public  prayer  a  mere  per- 
formance, in  which  the  officiating  minister 
is  left  alone,  to  be  listened  to,  if  not  disre- 


110  THE   HYJIX   OF   THE   EUCHARIST. 

garded.  There  are  no  sympathies  of  the 
brethren,  no  breathings  of  common  desire, 
no  silent,  unutterable  wrestlings  of  soul. 
How  often,  in  particular,  is  the  psalmody 
of  God's  house,  a  partial,  scanty,  unmeaning 
utterance. 

If  forced  to  avow  what  is  my  growing 
conviction,  it  would  be  this :  we  never  shall 
know  the  joys  of  the  sanctuary,  until  there 
be  poured  out  upon  us  a  new  baptism  in 
regard  to  fellowship  of  adoration,  love  and 
praise.  We  talk  of  our  need  of  revival 
in  many  things — and  justly — but  what  we 
greatly  need  is  a  revival  of  the  spirit  of 
worship.  How  new  a  face  would  instantly 
be  put  upon  our  solemn  gatherings,  if 
whole  assemblies,  as  the  heart  of  one  man, 
were  touched  with  an  apprehension  of  a 
present  God,  and  not  only  individually  but 
jointly,  were  sending  up  the  volume  of 
sanctified  harmony,  sometimes  in  tender 
moanings  like  the  dove,  sometimes  in  pro- 
foundest  awe,  sometimes  in  rapturous  joy, 
but  all  together  and  all  accordant,  not  a 
heart  unmoved,  and  not  a  voice  silent ! — 
Is  it  a  vain  fancy  to  think  that  such  days 
will    come  ?     Nay,  brethren,  unless  we   live 


THE   HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST.  Ill 

in  perpetual  delusion  concerning  the  latter 
glory  of  the  Church,  there  will  be  such  a 
renewal  of  the  spirit  of  worship,  as  in  a 
thousand  places  the  voice  of  joy  shall  be 
in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous.  Then 
shall  God's  praise — the  highest  employment 
of  human  tongues — ascend  with  such  rich- 
ness and  volume,  that  a  day  in  God's 
courts  shall  be  better  than  a  thousand. 
Then  shall  worshipping  multitudes  go  up 
to  the  sanctuary  of  God  their  exceeding 
joy,  with  as  much  eagerness  as  now  they 
press  in  throngs  to  amusements  and  festiv- 
ities—  but  O  with  how  great  an  increase 
of  holy  pleasure !  Then  shall  the  world 
without  see  and  know  that  God  is  with 
us  of  a  truth,  and  recognize  that  there  is 
happiness  in  glorifying  the  name  of  God. 
The  millennial  church  shall  lift  up  heart 
and  voice,  in  that  new  era,  with  a  trans- 
cendent enthusiasm  of  pure  bliss,  far  be- 
yond all  our  present  conceptions.  —  But 
however  distant  may  be  this  day,  and 
whether  we  live  to  see  it  or  not,  there  is 
a  world,  where,  if  found  faithful  by  grace, 
we  shall  hear  and  join  the  praises  of  the 
same    Eedeemer.     For  there  the  Church  of 


112  THE   HYMN   OF   THE   EUCHARIST. 

the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  unite  their 
voice,  to  sing  "  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb."  Amidst  much  that  is  obscure  in 
the  Apocalypse,  one  thing  is  as  clear  as 
day,  that  in  the  heavenly  state  there 
shall  be  lofty,  joyous,  and  perpetual 
praise  of  Christ.  John  heard  them,  "  say- 
ing with  a  loud  voice,  Worthy  is  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain,  to  receive  power  and 
riches  and  wisdom  and  strength  and  hon- 
our and  glory  and  blessing."  He  saw  also 
the  great  company,  "  having  the  harps  of 
God  "  sinsrino:  "  Great  and  marvellous  are 
thy  ways,  Lord  God  Almighty,  just  and 
true  are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints." 
O  for  some  earthly  prelibation  of  those  joys  ! 
O  for  some  sincere  and  hearty  and  unani- 
mous anthems  in  the   Church  below  ! 


V. 
THE   CRUCIFIXION. 


THE   CRUCIFIXION. 


Luke  23  :  33. 


"  And  when  they  were  come  to  the  place  which  is  called 
Calvary,  there  they  crucified  him." 

"When  Pilate  had  yielded  to  the  tumul- 
tuous demands  of  the  populace,  and  given 
up  our  blessed  Lord  Jesus  to  be  scourged 
and  mocked,  the  infuriated  multitude  led 
him  away  to  be  crucified.  Taking  from  his 
lacerated  body  the  royal  purple  which 
they  had  thrown  over  him  in  ridicule  of 
his  kingship,  they  clothed  him  in  his  own 
humble  raiment  and  seamless  coat.  At  the 
same  time,  and  to  add  ignominy,  they 
conducted  two  malefactors,  destined  to  the 
same' death.  While  this  sad  procession  was 
leaving  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  we 
have  reason  to  believe  that  Judas  Iscariot 
was    lying    a    ghastly   corpse,   having   been 


116  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

driven  to  suicide  by  his  despair.  The 
street  leading  through,  the  city  and  "beyond 
the  wall  of  that  day  has  "been  well  called 
the  Way  of  Sorrows.  It  conducted  them 
to  a  spot,  never  called  a  hill  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  still  less  a  mount,  named  the 
place  of  Skulls,  Golgotha,  or  in  Latin  Cal- 
vary. On  the  way  to  suffering  it  was  the 
inhuman  custom  to  lay  the  instrument  of 
death  as  a  burden  og.  the  prisoner.  In 
this  case  there  had  been  such  an  accumula- 
tion of  enfeebling  causes,  in  Gethsemane, 
the  courts,  and  the  place  of  bloody  scourg- 
ing, that  our  Lord  sank  under  the  weight. 
Even  the  transverse  beam,  supposing  this 
to  have  been  the  burden,  was  too  much 
for  his  sinking  humanity.  They  therefore 
dragged  into  their  service  an  African,  of 
Cyrene,  who  was  just  then  returning  from 
the  fields.  The  name  of  this  man  and  his 
sons  have  thus  found  a  place  within  the 
sacred  record.  "We  may  conjecture  that  he 
was  suspected  of  some  sympathy  or  con- 
nexion ;  and  it  was  his  honour  to  follow 
Jesus,  sustaining  at  least  the  end  of  the 
cross.  The  way  was  swoln  with  a  pressing 
multitude,  and  among  them  were  many  wo- 


THE   CKUCIFIXIOjST.  117 

men,  friends  of  the  Lord,  unshaken  by  the 
sudden  fanaticism,  and  pouring  out  cries 
of  lamentation.  Jesus  heard  these  wailings 
and  turned  upon  them  his  sorrowing  and 
benignant  eyes,  saying,  Daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem, weep  not  for  me ;  that  is,  your 
grief  though  kindly  and  pious  is  not 
founded  on  a  full  comprehension  of  this 
event ;  for  I  suffer  that  which  I  came  into 
the  world  to  endure,  willingly  offering  this 
sacrifice.  But  weep  for  yourselves  and  for 
your  children,  that  is,  Your  city  and  land 
must  shortly  suffer  the  vengeance  of  Al- 
mighty God  for  this   and   other   crimes. 

On  arriving  at  the  fatal  spot,  they  hur- 
ried the  preparations  for  a  shameful  and 
lingering  death.  And  here  we  may  pause 
a  little  to  inquire  what  is  meant  by  cru- 
cifixion. It  is  above  all  necessary  that  we 
discharge  from  our  minds  all  those  modern 
and  sentimental  decorations  which  men 
have  hung  about  the  cross ;  making  it  the 
symbol  of  salvation,  borrowing  its  shape  for 
majestic  cathedrals,  setting  it  up  in  gold 
and  gems,  and  painting  it  on  banners  and 
armorial  shields.  These  are  associations 
posterior    to  the  great   oblation.     Not   such 


118  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

was  the  rugged  tree  which  was  now  to 
be  let  clown  into  its  rocky  socket ;  and 
which  was  viewed  by  that  glaring  crowd, 
as  similar  assemblages  in  our  day  regard 
the   scaffold,  the  halter  and  the  gallows. 

Crucifixion  was  preeminently  an  igno- 
minious and  most  excruciating  mode  of 
death ;  common  among  the  Romans  (till 
the  reign  of  Constantine,)  and  from  them 
transferred  to  Judea  as  a  Roman  province. 
It  appears  from  numerous  Latin  works  that 
it  was  inflicted  chiefly  on  slaves,  and  such 
gross  offenders  as  highway-robbers  and  pi- 
rates. Upon  one  thus  suspended  on  a  rack 
by  transfixed  hands  and  feet,  death  came 
on  by  frightful  tortures.  Ancient  writers 
tell  us  that  it  was  commonly  a  suffering 
for  twelve  hours,  though  in  rare  cases  ex- 
tended to  more  than  twice  that  length  of 
time.  The  description  of  what  learned 
men  give  us  as  the  series  of  mortal  symp- 
toms would  harrow  the  feelimrs  without 
edification  of  heart. 

Such  was  the  punishment  decreed  to  our 
meek  and  innocent  Redeemer.  Among  the 
customs  prevailing  where  this  barbarous 
penalty  was   known,  it  was  usual  to  mingle 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  119 

for  the  criminal  a  cup  of  strong  wine  with 
drugs.  The  officials  gave  our  Lord  vinegar 
mingled  with  gall,  which  he  tasted  but 
put  away  from  him.  The  soothing  potion 
of  wine  and  myrrh,  by  whomsoever  offered, 
he  absolutely  rejected.  At  the  third  hour, 
or  nine  o'clock  of  the  day  which  we  name 
Friday,  Jesus  was  nailed  to  the  cross,  be- 
tween the  malefactors.  No  doubt  this  was 
studiously  intended  to  exhibit  him  as  the 
chief  of  sinners.  And  the  Scripture  was 
fulfilled  which  saith,  "  And  he  was  num- 
bered with  the  transgressors."  Above  his 
head  was  the  title  or  inscription,  in  the 
three  languages  most  known,  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, King  of  the  Jews.  Thus  lifted  up, 
in  pangs  which  we  cannot  understand,  and 
amidst  inward  sorrows  communicable  to  no 
creature,  our  Lord  opened  his  sacred  lips 
with  this  utterance,  "  Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do  !" 

But  about  the  very  time  when  the  for- 
giving Lamb  of  God  was  utteriug  this 
prayer  for  his  murderers,  the  soldiers  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross  were  dividing  his 
garments  as  so  much  booty,  and  even 
gambling  for  that   peculiar  vestment  which 


120  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

being  woven  in  one  piece  could  not  be 
divided.  This  also  had  been  predicted  by 
David,  when  he  said  in  the  name  of  the 
Messiah  Ps.  22:18  "They  divided  my 
garments  among  them  and  cast  lots  upon 
my  vesture."  The  place  of  execution  was 
filled  with  such  crowds  as  always  gather 
at  scenes  of  blood,  swelled  in  this  in- 
stance by  the  paschal  solemnity.  The  pop- 
ulace as  they  pressed  forward  and  gazed, 
and  the  multitudes  who  passed  by  in  a 
living  stream,  made  a  jest  of  these  ago- 
nies, reviled  our  Lord,  and  nodded  their 
heads  in  derision,  crying,  Ah  "  thou  that 
destroyest  the  temple  and  bulkiest  it  in 
three  days,  save  thyself.  If  thou  be  the 
Son  of  God,  come  down  from,.,  the'  cross." 
Men  of  higher  rank,  in  church  and  state, 
encouraged  this  scoffing,  and  said  "  He 
saved  others,  himself  he  cannot  save.  If 
he  be  Messiah,  God's  Elect  One,  King 
of  Israel,  let  him  now  come  down  from 
the  cross,  and  we  will  believe."  But  O 
my  brethren,  if  he  had  given  this  proof 
of  his  power,  which  was  easy,  he  had  left 
our  salvation  incomplete !  The  Gentile 
guards    united  in   the   insults,    and  also    ex- 


THE  CKUCIFIXKXN-.  121 

claimed  "If  thou  be  the  King  of  the  Jews, 
save  thyself!"  One  of  the  crucified  male- 
factors, as  if  phrensied  with  anguish  and 
depravity,  took  up  the  railing,  and  said, 
"  If  thou  be  the  Messiah,  save  thyself  and 
us."  It  seemed  indeed  as  if  the  mission 
and  work  of  Christ  were  utterly  frustrated. 
But  it  was  in  this  moment  of  desolation 
that  our  Redeemer  asserted  his  sovereign 
power  by  absolving  the  repentant  thief, 
and  declaring  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  Paradise  !" 

The  mind  is  somewhat  relieved  from 
the  sight  of  malignant  scoffers,  by  contem- 
plating a  little  group  around  the  cross,  of 
those  friends  who  had  not  been  scattered 
by  the  panic  of  unbelief.  It  was  Mary  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  another  Mary  her  sister 
(the  wife)  of  Cleopas,  and  a  third  Mary 
surnamed  Magdalene.  The  beloved  disci- 
ple, a  man  never  terrified  by  dangers,  a 
son  of  thunder,  and  one  whose  fiery  zeal 
sometimes  had  needed  the  Master's  rebuke, 
was  likewise  present.  The  eyes  of  Jesus 
bent  towards  this  company,  which  stood 
fascinated   by  grief    and    love,  as    he    said, 


122  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

"  "Woman,  behold  thy  son  !" — and   to   John, 
"  Behold  thy  Mother  !" 

Three  hours  of  torture  had  now 
elapsed,  and  it  was  noon ;  an  interval 
which  measured  by  pain  and  the  succession 
of  thought  might  be  reckoned  an  age. 
From  this  moment  heaven  gave  signs  of 
awful  sympathy  with  its  incarnate  Creator, 
and  there  was  darkness  over  all  the  land 
for  three  hours,  or  till  three  o'clock  of  our 
time.  About  the  close  of  this  supernatural 
darkness,  Jesus  uttered  a  lamenting  cry  in 
the  words  of  the  22d  Psalm,  "My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me !" 
Nothing  could  so  express  the  depth  of  woe 
into  which  our  Lord  plunged  for  our  sake. 
Say  not  that  it  conflicts  with  his  divinity. 
The  difficulty  here  is  only  one  of  a  num- 
ber of  difficulties,  in  an  event  which  has 
no  parallel,  and  which  baffles  all  human 
sjjeculation ;  since  we  cannot  comprehend 
even  when  we  adoringly  believe,  how  a 
Divine  Person  could  suffer  penalty,  or  be 
abandoned  of  God.  Permanently  abandon- 
ed he  was  not ;  sinfully  abandoned  he  was 
not ;  yet  so  far  as  the  reception  of  heaven- 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  123 

ly  consolation  is  concerned,  Christ  was  then 
and  there  forsaken.  Separated  from  the 
godhead  he  was  not ;  displeasing  to  God, 
he  was  not ;  but  he  was  "  made  a  curse 
for  us,"  bore  our  imputed  guilt,  and  as  our 
substitute  drank  the  cup  of  indignation. 
Let  us  not  analyze  what  is  infinitely  be- 
yond our  reach,  but  bow  the  head  and 
believe  and  love !  The  words  Eli,  Eli, 
being  misapprehended  by  some  present,  led 
them  to  think  it  a  cry  for  Elijah  the 
prophet,  who  was  predicted  as  his  forerun- 
ner, who  had  appeared  at  the  Transfigura- 
tion, and  who  the  people  thought  was 
now  summoned  from  paradise.  But  the 
atoniug  work  was  well  nigh  complete,  and 
the  Lord,  knowing  that  all  things  were 
accomplished,  gave  vent  to  the  burning 
demands  of  the  human  nature,  and  said, 
"  I  thirst."  So  also,  in  the  Psalm  twice 
quoted  already,  the  ancient  prophet  says, 
u  My  tongue  cleaveth  to  my  jaws,"  and 
Ps.  69,  "  for  my  thirst  they  gave  me 
vinegar  to  drink."  One  immediately  ran  to 
the  vessel  of  vinegar  which  stood  near,  took 
a  sponge,  filled  it  with  vinegar,  and  by 
means   of  a  stalk  of  hyssop  or  a  long  reed, 


12-i  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

or  both,  reached  it  upward,  to  moisten  the 
fevered  lips  of  the  dying  Lamb  of  God: 
who  when  he  had  received  it  said,  in  a 
single  emphatic  word,  "  It  is  finished 7" 
Then,  crying  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Father 
into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit !"  he 
bowed  his  head,  and  expired.  It  was  a 
voluntary  breathing  out  of  life ;  as  he 
had  said  before  "  No  man  taketh  my 
life  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of 
myself."  The  term  of  agony  as  we  ob- 
serve was  shorter  than  that  of  the  male- 
factors beside  him.  This  was  the  great 
climacteric  of  man's  history.  Since  earth 
was  formed,  no  event  had  been  like  this, 
that  he  who  made  it  should  die  upon  it. 
The  moment  was  marked  by  portentous 
signs.  The  vail  which  secluded  the  Holy 
of  Holies,  a  sacred  tapestry  never  entered 
but  by  the  High  Priest,  and  by  him  once 
only  in  the  year,  was  rent  in  sunder,  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom.  And  this  at  the 
very  hour  of  evening  sacrifice,  when  the 
Hi^h  Priest  must  have  been  standing  at 
the  golden  altar.  The  old  dispensation  is 
no  more.  The  old  priesthood  is  supersed- 
ed.     The    old    sacrifices    have     lost      their 


THE   CRUCIFIXION".  125 

value,  and  are  absorbed  in  the  one  great 
sacrifice  for  sin.  There  was  an  earthquake, 
and  rocks  were  rent.  As  a  consequence 
of  this  disturbance  given  to  the  sepulchral 
cemeteries,  "  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which 
slept  arose,"  and  after  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  came  out  of  their  graves,  entered 
the  holy  city,  perhaps  in  undeniable  glory 
as  patriarchs  and  prophets  may  have  been 
of  the  number,  and  as  part  of  the  rising 
Saviour's  retinue  appeared  to  many  disci- 
ples. 

But  returning  to  our  simple  narrative. 
The  Roman  centurion,  commanclino:  the 
military  guard,  observing  the  words  of  Je- 
sus in  the  article  of  death,  looking  on 
that  countenance,  in  that  instant  of  faith, 
consecration  and  divine  love,  and  awed  by 
the  tokens  in  heaven  and  earth,  'glorified 
God,'  saying  "  Certainly  this  was  a  righte- 
ous man" — nay — "Truly  this  man  was  the 
Son  of  God ;"  as  he  uniformly  declared 
himself  to  be.  And  his  soldiers  assented, 
saying,  "Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God!" 
And  all  the  people  that  came  together  at 
that  sight,  beholding  the  things  which 
were   done,  smote   their  breasts  and  return- 


126  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

ed.  And  all  his  acquaintance,  and  many 
women,  who,  in  Galilee  had  "believed  and 
followed  and  served  him,  including  those 
"before  named,  with  Salome  and  the  mother 
of  James  and  John,  the  mother  of  James 
the  Less  and  Joses,  were  witnesses  of  this 
event,  from  a  suitable    distance. 

In  long  preparation  of  the  Hebrew 
Church  during  many  ages  for  this  redeem- 
ing act,  in  which  the  Eedeemer  was  to 
take  on  himself  the  penalty,  the  ignominy 
and  curse,  God  here  taught  his  peculiar 
nation  to  look  on  this  mode  of  death  as 
an  abhorrence.  Deut.  21,  22,  23.  It  was 
in  the  Law,  ordained  respecting  one  hanged 
on  a  tree,  "  His  body  shall  not  remain  all 
night  upon  the  tree — (for  he  that  is  hang- 
ed is  accursed  of  God) — that  thy  land  be 
not  defiled."  The  Jews  therefore,  although 
they  had  brought  the  blood  and  wrath  of 
the  greater  crime  on  their  heads,  were  un- 
willing to  incur  the  less.  The  next  day 
was  to  be  not  merely  their  Sabbath,  but  a 
sabbath  of  peculiar  sanctity,  as  succeeding 
their  greatest  feast,  the  Passover.  The  two 
malefactors  were  still  lingering  on  their 
crosses,    and  seemed    likely    to   survive   the 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  127 

sunset,  at  which  the  Sabbath  would  begin. 
By  Pilate's  leave  they  therefore  closed  the 
sufferings  of  the  robbers.  But  when  the 
executioners,  breaking  the  limbs  of  their 
victims,  came  to  Jesus,  they  found  it  need- 
less thus  to  rend  his  sacred  body.  His 
blessed  spirit  had  already  fled  to  paradise. 
And  this  was  an  intended  coincidence  with 
an  Old  Testament  emblem.  For  concern- 
ing the  lamb  of  passover,  which  age  after 
age  foreshadowed  the  Lamb  of  God,  it 
was  a  solemn  regulation  Num.  11  :  12 
"Not  a  bone  of  it  shall  be  broken."  Yet 
an  inhuman  soldier,  with  his  spear,  pierced 
that  sacred  side,  and  forthwith  came  there 
out  blood  and  water.  Great  anatomists 
have  written  many  learned  treatises  on 
this  event,  which  may  be  profitably  read; 
agreeing  in  this,  that  it  was  an  infallible 
proof  of  death,  and  that  our  Lord  could 
not  have  survived  such  a  wound  even  if 
life  had  not  been  extinct.  "  And  he  that 
saw  it  (says  the  Apostle  John,  of  himself) 
bare  record,  and  his  record  is  true,  and 
he  knoweth  that  he  saith  true,  that  ye 
might  believe."  It  further  accomplished 
those   words   spoken  by  Zechariah,  concern- 


128  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

ing  the  conversion  of  Israel  in  the  last 
days,  "  They  shall  look  on  him  Avhoin  they 
have   pierced." 

I  have  accomplished  my  purpose,  of  giv- 
ing a  simple  narrative  of  our  Lord's  death 
upon  the  Cross ;  being  that  particular  event, 
which  of  all  others  he  selected  to  "be  com- 
memorated by  a  sacramental  ordinance,  by 
all  disciples,  through  all  ages ;  until  11  e 
shall  come  again  the  second  time  without 
sin,  unto  salvation.  (1.)  You  have  before 
your  minds,  that  event  which  is  set  forth 
in  the  Eucharist.  The  rite  may  have  other 
bearings,  but  this  is  its  primary  intent, 
which  cannot  be  neglected  or  overshadowed 
without  doing  a  violence  to  the  sacrament. 
Looking  forward  to  this,  a  few  hours  be- 
fore, on  the  evening  of  the  paschal  Thurs- 
day, he  said  as  he  gave  the  broken  bread, 
"This  do  in  remembrance  of  me;  and  as 
he  gave  the  wine,  This  is  my  blood  of  the 
New  Covenant  shed  for  many,  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins."  Put  the  two  things  to- 
gether, and  you  perceive,  that  we  approach. 
this  table  aright,  when  we  remember  our 
Lord — when  we  remember  him  as  shedding 


THE  CRUCIFIXION.  129 

his    blood    for  remission— that  is  when  we 
remember    him    as    an    expiatory    oblation. 
The  broken  bread,  aids   the  remembrance; 
it  is   Christ's  broken  body.       The  fruit   of 
the   vine,    the    cnp    of   blessing    which   we 
bless,  aids  the  remembrance— it  is  the  new 
testament  in   his   blood.       "This  do  ye,   as 
often  as    ye    drink  it,    in   remembrance    ol 
me."      Mere  bread  and  wine,  however   con- 
secrated, do  not  make  a  sacrament.    There 
must  be  an  eye   of    faith  to  look   through 
and    beyond    the    emblem    and    see    Jesus 
Christ,  visibly  set  forth,  crucified  among  us. 
It  is    possible   even    to    eat   of    this    bread 
and  drink   of  this  cup   'unworthily.'       The 
Corinthians    were    guilty    of    this  very  Bin, 
"not  discerning  the  Lord's  body,"  not  pen- 
etrating  to  somewhat  beyond  the  common 
nutriment  and  refreshment  of  a  repast,  not 
seeing  that   all  the  virtue  lay   in  the  aton- 
ing  death    of    the   Son    of    God,    exhibited 
and  sealed  to  faith  in   this  ordinance.     All 
which    brings    us    again    to    the    important 
truth,  that  in  partaking,  we  must  bend  all 
the    perceptions    of    the    soid    on    a   single 
point,  Christ    on    the  Cross-Christ  broken 
by  the   mighty    arm    of    divine    justice   for 
6* 


130  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

our  sins — Christ  pouring  forth  his  blood  as 
the  basis  of  that  new  covenant  which  gives 
to  many  remission  of  sins.  To  this  centre 
or  focal  point  of  all  theology,  I  invite  your 
regards  this  day.  The  voice  of  Jesus  from 
the  accursed  tree,  calls  to  you  in  bewail- 
ing but  gracious  accents,  "Look  unto  me 
and  be  ye  saved,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth." 
Look  then.  Come  hither  with  me,  beloved 
disciples — for  the  world  without  cares  for 
none  of  these  things  —  come  hither,  and 
draw  more  closely  around  the  Cross.  Say 
with  Moses,  "I  will  now  turn  aside  and 
see  this  great  sight."  Lift  up  your  eyes, 
and  fix  them  on  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father  full  of  grace  and  truth.  Read  in 
those  benign  eyes,  swimming  in  death,  a 
profound,  a  divinity  of  love,  compassion  and 
saving  grace,  which  death  could  not  quench. 
Catch  those  utterances  of  pity  and  forgive- 
ness, which  mingled  with  his  personal  la- 
mentations. "Father  forgive  them" — "This 
day  shalt  thou  be  with  me" — "It  is  fin- 
ished " — "  Into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit." — Hearest  thou?  nearest  thou?  O 
sinful  soul?  Hearest  thou  the  Gospel  of 
salvation  from  the  lips  of  dying  love    and 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  131 

omnipotence  ?  Can  such  expiation  be  una- 
vailing— such  prayers  unanswered — such  wel- 
comes insincere?  Need  you  any  further 
demonstration  of  Christ's  present  readiness? 
"Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that 
a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends." 
Can  you  doubt  God's  love?  "God  com- 
mendeth  his  love  toward  us,  in  that  while 
we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 
Dare  you  hesitate  as  to  who  are  intended 
by  this  saving  work?  You  are  intended; 
unless  you  are  one  who  has  never  sinned; 
and  the  message  of  the  cross  is  a  message 
to  you,  and  offered  to  universal  acceptance, 
to  your  present  acceptance.  "For  this  is 
a  faithful  saying,  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners."  Look  steadily  at 
this  cross,  and  you  will  own  its  attractive 
virtue  according  to  that  word,  "And  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 
Eemember,  remember  Christ  dying  for  your 
sins. 

2.  The  view  which  we  are  to  take  of 
a  dying  Christ  is  not  natural  sympathy 
with  his  human  sufferings.  These  were  in- 
deed great,  unparalleled  and  unutterable. 
But  it  is  observable   that   the  bodily  pangs 


132  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

of  our  Lord  are  not  made  prominent  in 
the  Scripture  narrative ;  and  this  may  ac- 
count for  the  simplicity  of  the  recital  al- 
ready given  in  the  former  part  of  this 
discourse.  There  are  individuals,  if  we 
should  not  rather  say  churches,  in  which 
this  merely  natural  apprehension  of  Je- 
sus Christ  and  him  crucified  has  been  al- 
most the  whole  of  religion.  Imagination 
has  been  called  iu  to  melt  the  affections, 
and  poetry,  eloquence,  painting  and  sculp- 
ture have  lent  their  aid.  But  piety  of 
this  sort  may  attain  any  height  and  yet 
be  no  quality  of  holiness.  There  is  little 
devotion  in  a  naked  and  passive  sensibility. 
A  sacrament,  or  a  sermon,  like  a  mighty 
work  of  art,  may  dissolve  a  hearer  in  tears, 
and  yet  leave  him  no  better.  Otherwise, 
the  most  susceptible  temperament  would  be 
the  criterion  of  the  greatest  saint;  when 
we  know  on  the  contrary  that  persevering 
hatred  of  sin  and  devotion  to  God's  service 
exist  in  many  who  are  little  given  to  gusts 
of  natural  passion.  Our  Lord  plainly  dis- 
suades us  from  this  simply  human  and  com- 
passionate view  of  his  death,  by  the  words 
which  he  turned  and  sjDake  to  the  weeping 


THE   CRUCIFIXION".  133 

daughters  of  Jerusalem.  Those  pictures  and 
graphic  crucifixes  therefore,  not  to  speak 
of  waxen  mockeries  and  tragical  stage  re- 
presentations, which  have  been  common  in 
Komish  churches  during  their  Passion  week, 
are  observed  to  leave  the  very  crowds  that 
weep  and  smite  the  breast  ready  next  day 
to  go  about  deeds  of  violence  or  license. 
And  the  same  principle  would  apply  to  verbal 
painting,  artful  rhetoric,  and  such  eloquence 
as  should  bring  before  the  mind's  eye  the 
dying  Saviour  as  if  bleeding  in  our  very 
presence.  Heated  imagination,  in  cases  of 
enthusiasm  and  rapture,  has  still  more  viv- 
idly called  up  the  apparition  of  Christ 
upon  the  cross ;  and  this  has  been  taken 
by  some  as  the  crowning  evidence  of  their 
conversion.  All  in  vain;  if  the  matter 
goes  no  further.  For  can  any  art  of  pen- 
cil, of  music,  or  of  style  attain  to  the  reality 
there  before  the  eyes  of  those  who  stood 
around  our  Saviour's  Cross  ?  And  yet, 
some  of  these  very  persons  "crucified  the 
Lord  of  glory  ! "  In  the  very  presence  of 
that  divine  countenance,  and  listening  to  the 
very  tones  of  that  heavenly  voice,  they 
drove  the  nails  and  urged  the  spear  to  the 


134  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

seat  of  life.  Nor  are  we  hastily  to  conclude 
that  all  who  burst  into  tears  at  beholding 
the  innocent  bloodshedding  of  the  Lord, 
were  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  minds. 
Such  emotions  are  certainly  not  wrong;  it 
is  admitted  that  they  are  natural.  But  we 
are  in  need  of  something  that  is  beyond 
nature.  Tender  sympathies  and  gushing  pity 
may  even  aid  our  religious  affections;  but 
they  must  not  be  rested  in.  And  it  is  ut- 
terly vain  and  deceptive  to  make  our 
thoughts  terminate  in  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  however  deeply  we  may  sink  under 
them,  unless  we  pass  through  them  all,  to 
the  mysterious  intent  and  efficacy  of  his 
agony. 

3.  The  death  of  Christ,  exhibited  in  the 
sacrament,  is  to  be  viewed  by  Faith.  Here 
we  pass  from  the  region  of  nature  to  the 
region  of  grace.  The  faculty  which  looks 
through  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine, 
and  through  all  outward  pains  of  a  holy 
being,  is  faith.  It  is  faith,  that  beholds  this 
spotless  Lamb,  laid  on  the  altar  of  divine 
Justice.  It  is  faith,  that  sees  the  penalty 
here  exacted  of  the  blessed  Substitute.  It 
is  faith,  that   hears  the  invitation   extended 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  135 

to  every  sinner   in  the   gospel.     It   is  faith, 
that    perceives    the    salvation    as    complete, 
suitable,  available,  present,  made    over,    and 
held  out  for  the  acceptance  of  the  individ- 
ual  soul.     It  is   faith,  that   actually   accepts 
it,  laying  the  hand  of  appropriation  on  the 
head   of    the   unblemished  victim  that    pal- 
pitates  beneath  the   sacrificial  sword.     And 
it   is  faith,  that  renews   these   very  acts   of 
reception,     surrender,     and     adhesion,    with 
equal    or    increasing     readiness,    again    and 
again,    through    all    the    Christian    life. — In 
other    words     Faith    'discerns     the     Lord's 
body;'    faith   receives  it;    faith    feeds  upon 
it.     The  lively  emblems   of    this  holy  table 
are  helps  to   faith.     We   believe  the   more 
promptly  and  strongly,  when  we  look   on  a 
rite,    instituted    by   the    very    hands   which 
were   presently  to  be  pierced  for  our  sake, 
and  transmitted   from   that  upper   chamber 
to    this   day,    through    every  vicissitude   of 
persecution,    division    and   error.       And   we 
believe  the  more  tenderly,  and  cling  to  our 
faith  the  more  earnestly,  when  we  discover 
in   these   symbols,  not   a  sign  merely,  but  a 
seal,  of    divine   appointment,   pledging  unto 
us,  and  to   each  of  us,  who   so  eats  and  so 


136  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

drinks,  all  the  loving  kindness  and  covenant 
grace  purchased  by  the  death  of  Christ. 
4.  Lastly ;  The  true  disciple  is  disposed 
to  part  with  his  sins  at  the  Cross.  That 
is  to  say,  he  exercises  not  only  faith  but 
repentance.  There  is  no  true  repentance 
which  docs  not  spring  from  faith.  Some 
people  think  they  will  repent  first,  and 
then  come  to  Christ.  Vain  thought !  As 
if  one  should  forsake  darkness  first,  and 
then  come  to  the  light.  Conviction  there 
may  be,  prior  to  believing,  or  remorse, 
compunction,  fear,  legal  sorrow,  but  true 
repentance  is  "  a  tear  that  glistens  in  the 
eye  of  faith."  And,  as  we  learned  long 
ago,  Eepentance  unto  life  includes  not  only 
a  true  sense  of  sin,  but  an  "apprehension 
of  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ."  For 
which  cause  many  go  all  their  life  long 
without  any  tenderness  of  repentance,  be- 
cause they  will  not  come  to  Christ;  who 
is  exalted  a  prince  and  Saviour  "to  give 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins."  —  The 
head  becomes  often  as  waters,  and  the  eyes 
a  fountain  of  tears,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Cross ;  or  (what  most  nearly  resembles  it) 
at   the   table    of    this    sacrament.       If    you 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  137 

behold  Jesus  "  bruised  for  your  iniquities'' 
you  have  a  reason  for  hating  and  forsaking 
sin,  more  powerful  than  the  lightnings  of 
Sinai.  "Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us 
as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were 
baptized  into  his  death?"*  The  system 
which  we  professed  at  our  initiation  was 
founded  in  that  event.  "  Our  old  man  is 
crucified  with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin 
might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we 
should  not  serve  sin."  There  is  a  sense  in 
which  we  were  put  to  death  with  Christ 
on  the  cross.  The  nails  which  fastened 
him  there  passed  through  us  also.  "For 
if  one  died  for  all,  then  all  died."  2  Cor. 
5  :  14.f  Therefore  Paul  exclaims,  "Hence- 
forth let  no  man  trouble  me" — let  none 
hinder  me  in  the  race  of  holy  service — 
"for  I  bear  in  my  body  the  marks,  stig- 
mata, of  the  Lord  Jesus."  "I  am  crucified 
with  Christ — nevertheless  I  live;  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me ;  and  the  life 
which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by 
the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved 
me  and  gave  himself  for  me." J     Mark  how 

*  Rom.  6:3.  t  See  original.         \  Gal.  2  :  20. 


13'8  THE   CKUCIFIXIOX. 

he  comes  back  to  Christ's  giving  himself 
up  to  death.  The  cause  of  Christ's  death 
and  of  all  his  sufferings  was  our  sins.  This 
is  brought  palpably  before  us  in  the  Lord's 
Supper.  We  may  therefore  very  properly 
partake  of  this  our  New  Testament  passo- 
ver,  with  "bitter  herbs;"  mourning  over 
our  sins,  as  the  true  murderers  of  our 
blessed  Lord.  And  the  sense  of  pardon 
derived  from  believing  apprehensions  of  his 
dying  love  will  be  so  far  from  hindering 
this  divorce  between  us  and  our  sins,  that 
it  will  drive  us  with  new  impulsion  to 
effect  it.  The  grace  is  infinite;  but  it  is 
the  grace  not  only  of  justification  but  of 
sanctification.  "Shall  we  continue  in  sin 
that  grace  may  abound?  God  forbid! 
How  shall  we  who  are  dead  to  sin,  live 
any  longer  therein  ? "  "  Likewise  reckon  ye 
also  yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto 
sin,  but  alive  unto  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."  The  very  profession  of 
faith,  which  we  make  at  the  Lord's  Table, 
implies  our  turning  the  back  forever  upon 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  To 
look  with  eyes  of  love  on  the  Lord  Jesus, 
symbolically  broken  in  this  loaf  and  bleed- 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  139 

ing  in  this  cup — to  gaze  into  the  recesses 
and  deep  meanings  of  those  eyes  of  divine 
pity  and  eternal  love — is  at  one  and  the 
same  time  to  swear  allegiance,  and  yield 
yourself  in  espousals  never  to  be  broken. 
You  cannot  help  it!  If  you  hesitate,  if 
you  draw  back,  if  you  linger,  if  there  is 
aught  you  love  better — how  is  it  possible 
that  you  can  believe !  Oh  no  !  Faith  will 
take  no  denial.  She  is  a  queenly  Grace. 
She  will  bring  you  to  Jesus.  She  will 
knit  your  hand  to  his.  She  will  join  you 
in  a  covenant  never  to  be  forgotten.  By 
every  pang  that  pierced  his  heart  upon  the 
cross,  she  will  argue  with  you  and  constrain 
you  to  come  out  of  the  land  of  his  enemies, 
and  live  forever  under  his  rule.  We  take 
our  stand  as  a  family  of  brothers  this  clay 
on  this  profession.  By  this  Cross  we  are 
crucified  unto  the  world,  and  the  world  is 
crucified  unto  us.  This  ordinance  erects  the 
Cross  in  the  midst  of  our  assembly.  On 
this  one  point  all  eyes  are  fastened.  'Not 
only  so,  on  this  tree  of  death  all  of  us  are 
in  a  certain  sense  suspended.  We  are  no 
more  of  the  world,  but  of  the  cross.  God 
forbid   that   we    should    glory    save    in    the 


140  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

Cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  This  is  to 
be  made  conformable  to  his  death  and  to 
have  fellowship  with  his  sufferings.  The 
vast  atoning  wonder,  which  eclipsed  the  day 
and  cleft  'mountains  and  evoked  the  bodies 
of  ancient  saints  from  their  sepulchres,'  has 
meanings  and  virtues  which  Eternity  holds 
in  reserve.  As  the  cherubim  of  glory 
stooped  over  the  golden  coronet  of  the 
Ark,  so  these  "things  Angels  desire  to  look 
into." 

"Angels  that  hymn   the   Great  I   Am 
Fall  down  and  veil  before   the  Lamb." 

Think  you  that  heaven  forgets  the  re- 
demption of  Golgotha!  Hark!  What 
voice  is  that  which  the  beloved  disciple 
hears,  as  he  falls  like  one  dead?  "I  am 
he  that  liveth  and  was  dead ;  and  behold 
I  live  for  evermore,  Amen!"  What  vision 
is  this  which  catches  his  eye  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne  and  the  cherubic  beings?  It 
is  "a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain."  What 
anthem  echoes  from  the  elders,  when  they 
come  with  harps  and  odors?  "Thou  wast 
slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy 
blood,  out  of  every  kingdom  and  tongue 
and  people  and  nation,  and  hast  made  us  to 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  141 

our  God,  kings  and  priests,  and  we  shall 
reim  on  the  earth."  And  what  ocean  of 
harmonious  song  is  this  which  surges  in 
waves  of  adoration  from  the  surrounding 
multitudinous  circles,  of  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  and  thousands  of  thousands? 
"  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to 
receive  Power,  and  Riches,  and  Wisdom, 
and  Strength,  and  Honour,  and  Glory  and 
Blessing!"     Amen  and  Amen. 


VI. 
WATER  AND    BLOOD. 


WATER   AND    BLOOD. 


John  19 :  34. 


uBut    one  of  the    soldiers    with    a    spear    pierced    his 
side,  and  forthwith  came  there   out  blood  and  water." 

Iisr  our  meditations  at  the  Communion 
we  generally  contemplate  our  blessed  Lord 
as  dying:  here  we  look  upon  him  as  al- 
ready dead.  His  bloodless  lips  were  parted 
with  the  cry,  "It  is  finished,"  and  then  he 
expired.  No  more  imputed  guilt,  no  more 
suffering;  the  payment  has  been  made,  the 
sacrifice  has  been  laid  on  the  altar.  The 
cup  which  his  Father  gave  him  has  been 
drunk  to  the  dregs.  Pale  and  cold,  the 
lovely  form  hangs  in  the  unmistakable  atti- 
tudes of  death.  And  this  is  recognized  by 
the  party  of  soldiers  sent  at  the  Jews' 
request,  to  save  their  high  festival  from 
the  pollution  which  would  have  resulted 
7 


146  WATER  AND   BLOOD. 

from  the  suspension  of  criminal  corpses 
over  night.  The  malefactors  had  borne  the 
torture;  and  history  shows  us  that  victims 
of  the  cross  sometimes  lingered  for  days. 
It  was  necessary  to  put  a  cruel  end  to 
their  torment  by  a  process  having  its  tech- 
nical name  in  Latin;  not  unlike  the  coup 
de  grace,  or  finishing  stroke,  of  culprits 
broken  on  the  wheel.  'The  tender  mercies 
of  the  wicked  are  cruel.'  Yet,  this  very 
violence  fulfilled  the  word  of  Jesus  to  one 
of  the  robbers,  'This  day  shalt  thou  be 
with  me  in  Paradise.'  But  the  pure  spirit 
of  the  Divine  Oblation  in  the  midst  has  not 
awaited  such  an  outrage.  Of  the  paschal 
lamb,  the  type  of  this  our  Lamb  of  God, 
it  had  been  ordained,  UA  bone  of  him 
shall  not  be  broken."  Also  the  Psalmist's 
words  have  come  true:  "Thou  keepest  all 
my  bones,  not  one  of  them  is  broken." 
Wounded,  rent,  sheeted  in  crimson,  that 
precious  body  nevertheless  shall  endure 
neither  fracture  nor  corruption.  Yet  the 
awful,  mystic  murmurs  of  prophecy  echo  to 
us  from  the  recesses  of  the  Old  Testament, 
with  inklings  of  insult  and  wounding  to 
the  heart  of  God  incarnate.       For   God   it 


WATER  AND  BLOOD.  147 

was  who  said:  "And  they  shall  look  upon 
me  whom  they  have  pierced  and  they  shall 
mourn."  Hence  our  surprise  may  be  less- 
ened, when  amidst  the  closing  tortures  of 
the  thieves,  a  Roman  soldier  (the  Longinus 
of  legend)  makes  trial  of  Christ's  death; 
as  to  its  reality.  Real  indeed  it  was.  Had 
he  not  said  "I  lay  down  my  life — no  man 
taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of 
myself."  "  One  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear 
pierced  his  side,  and  forthwith  came  there 
out  blood  and  water."  It  is  not  said 
which  side ;  the  great  masters  of  Romish 
art  have  chosen  the  right,  in  order  perhaps 
to  exhibit  the  event  as  purely  miraculous ; 
but  learned  conjecture  has  as  generally  set- 
tled upon  the  left.  The  fair,  innocent, 
adorable  body,  thus  lacerated,  was  now  not 
sensible,  but  dead.  If  it  had  not  been, 
this  mortal  thrust  had  completed  the  mur- 
der. Our  witness  is  one  who  the  day  be- 
fore had  leaned  upon  that  bosom,  then 
warni  with  love  and  heaving  with  pity; 
one  who,  now  fixed  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  supporting  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus, 
had  just  heard  those  lips  say  c  Behold  thy  mo- 
ther,7 v.  27.     He  marks  a  single  circumstance, 


148  "WATER  AND   BLOOD. 

as  unusual,  memorable  and  significant ;  he 
marks  it  with  a  triple  asseveration,  v.  35,  36 : 
"forthwith  came  there  out  blood  and  wa- 
ter." He  marks  it,  as  spiritually  important, 
many  years  afterwards,  when  in  old  age, 
surviving  all  his  brother  Apostles,  surviving 
Jerusalem  itself,  he  writes :  1  Jo.  5  :  G.  "This 
is  he  wdio  came  by  water  and  blood,  even 
Jesus  Christ,  not  by  water  only,  but  by 
water  and  blood."  Such  redoubling  of 
statement,  such  solemnity  of  attestation,  such 
mystery  of  application,  may  fully  justify  us 
in  giving  the  point  our  most  serious  study. 
Various  have  been  the  conjectures  of 
science  as  to  the  source  of  this  effusion. 
Infidels  have  denied  that  blood  ever  flows 
from  the  corpses  of  those  who  die  from 
severe  wounds.  Even  if  this  were  so,  as  it 
is  not,  wre  should  only  be  left  to  believe 
a  miracle.  Some  have  spoken  of  water  in 
the  pericardium  or  membranous  sac  which 
contains  the  heart.  The  subject  has  been 
treated  by  medical  authors  of  the  highest 
rank.  The  soundest  conclusion  seems  to  be 
this:  In  cases  of  violent  death  from  tor- 
turing; extension  of  the  muscles,  the  blood 
may  continue    fluid,  even    after    dissolution, 


WATER  AND  BLOOD.  149 

and  may  readily  escape  passively  from  the 
great  vessels.  The  stroke  of  the  Eoman 
lance  was  not  any  slight  puncture  or  super- 
ficial wound;  if  it  had  been  such,  Jesus 
would  never  have  said  to  unbelieving 
Thomas,  i  Reach  hither  thy  hand  and  thrust 
it  into  my  side?  The  spear-head  made 
open  laceration  and  wide  entrance;  pro- 
ducing a  twofold  effect;  first  reaching 
nearer  parts  where  the  serous  or  watery 
portion  of  the  blood  found  escape,  and 
then  plunging  more  deeply  in  the  region 
of  the  heart,  and  making  way  on  its  return 
for  the  proper  crimson  tide.  "Forthwith 
came  there  out  blood  and  water."  It  is 
especially  to  be  remarked,  that  Scripture 
says  nothing  as  to  the  quantity  of  either; 
whether  great  or  small.  The  fact  arrested 
the  upturned  gaze  of  the  group  below,  and 
imprinted  its  image  for  life  upon  the  lov- 
ing Disciple,  who,  employing  terms  of  mod- 
esty concerning  himself,  says:  "And  he 
that  saw  it  bare  record,  and  his  record  is 
true,  and  he  knoweth  that  he  saith  true, 
that  ye  might  believe." 

There  is  a  philosophy  my  brethren,  which 
has  tampered  with  the  interpretation  of  the 


150  WATER  AND  BLOOD. 

Word;  which,  has  climbed  to  chairs  of 
theology;  which  has  installed  chill  ration- 
alism in  the  pulpit;  a  philosophy  which 
would  drain  off  the  last  juices  from  the 
clusters  of  inspiration,  and  rob  every  bleed- 
ing type  in  Leviticus  of  its  Christ-ward 
pointing.  It  is  the  philosophy  of  Socinian 
coldness  and  baptized  infidelity.  Seeing  no 
substitution,  imputation,  penal  suffering,  or 
expiatory  sacrifice  in  the  Cross,  it  naturally 
beholds  no  more  than  a  singular  patholo- 
gical phenomenon  at  this  opened  side. 
God  grant  us  eyes  to  look  more  deeply, 
even  into  that  mystery  which  the  Apostle 
deemed  worthy  of  his  rehearsal,  when  he 
wrote:  "there  are  three  who  bear  wit- 
ness in  earth,  the  Spirit,  and  the  water, 
and  the  blood:  and  these  three  agree  in 
one."  The  warm  African  imagination  of 
St.  Aufmstm*  carries  him  into  a  flight  in 
which  we  may  not  all  follow  him,  but 
which  yet  suggests  the  hidden  meaning  of 
the  signal  event.  This  eloquent  father, 
preaching  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  ago, 
thus   spoke:     "It  is  finished,  said   He,   and 

*  Serm.  V. 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  151 

bowed  Ms  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost; 
as  though  he  had  endured  till  all  was  fin- 
ished.  When  he  so  willed,  he  gave  up  his 
soul.  He  therefore  was  God:  they  who 
were  crucified  beside  him  were  men.  He 
dies  at  once,  they  more  slowly.  And  when 
it  was  ordered  that  the  bodies  should  be 
removed  on  account  of  the  sabbath,  the 
officers  found  the  thieves  living,  and  brake 
their  legs,  but  the  Lord  already  departed. 
Yet  one  of  them  with  a  lance  pierced  his 
side,  and  forthwith  came  there  out  blood 
and  water.  Lo  the  price  paid  for  thee ! 
For  what  is  flowing  from  this  side,  but  the 
mystery  (sacramentum)  which  believers  re- 
ceive? Spirit,  Water,  Blood.  Spirit,  which 
the  [dying  Jesus]  breathed  out:  Blood 
and  Water  flowing  from  his  side.  Signify- 
ing that  of  this  very  blood  and  water  the 
church  is  born.  And  when  was  it  that 
blood  and  water  issued  thus  ?  It  was  when 
Christ  [our  second  Adam]  was  sleeping 
upon  the  cross;  just  as,  of  old,  Adam  in 
Paradise  was  laid  in  deep  slumber,  and 
from  his  side  Eve  was  taken.  Lo  the 
price  paid  for  thee ! "  Earlier  than  Au- 
gustin,    another    African    Christian,  like   all 


152  WATER  AND  BLOOD. 

the  ancients  loving  to  dwell  on  tlie  "Cross 
and  Passion,"  thns  speaks  in  his  character- 
istic and  almost  extreme  way :  "  Christ 
says  Tertullian*  had  come,  by  water  and 
blood,  that  he  might  be  baptized  with 
water  and  glorified  with  blood;  and  in 
order  to  render  ns  by  water  his  called, 
and  by  blood  his  chosen,  he  sent  forth 
these  two  baptises  from  the  wound  of 
his  pierced  side,  so  that  those  who  should 
believe  in  this  blood  might  be  washed 
with  this  water,  and  likewise  that  they 
who  should  be  cleansed  with  this  water 
ini£\ht  drink  of  this  blood."  You  catch 
the  allusion  at  once  —  it  is  frequent  in 
that  Christian  antiquity  which  our  age  ne- 
glects; it  is  like  the  famous  saying,  that 
out  of  the  side  of  Jesus  issued  the  two 
Sacraments;  Baptism,  the  sacrament  of 
water,  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  sacrament  of 
blood.  More  rigorously  stated,  perhaps  we 
should  err  less  in  saying,  Out  of  that 
blessed,  violated  side  issued  twin  emblems, 
parallel  with  the  New  Testament  Sacra- 
ments;   and  symbolizing  the   same   glorious 

*  De  Bap.  c.  1G. 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  153 

benefits.  My  brethren  we  have  this  day 
the  privilege  of  approaching  both.  Let  us, 
in  reliance  on  Divine  aid,  contemplate  the 
twofold  lesson.  It  will  prepare  the  way 
for  our  better  understanding  of  the  matter, 
connected  thus  with  the  very  heart  of  re- 
ligion, if  we  return  for  a  moment  to  the 
threefold  witness.  1  Jo.  5  :  7."  As  this  wit- 
nessing may  be  viewed  from  two  different 
sides;  either  as  outwardly  proposed  for  the 
conviction  of  men,  or  inwardly  applied  for 
the  consolation  of  believers,  so  we  think 
those  three  Witnesses  may  be  regarded 
under  a  like  twofold  aspect,  that  is  as  tes- 
tifying within  or  without.  Thus  by  the 
Spirit  (that  witnesseth)  we  understand  the 
power  and  efficacy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as 
well  outwardly  working  by  the  Word,  as 
inwardly  effectual  in  the  heart.  By  the 
Water,  first  the  sacrament  of  Baptism,  ad- 
ministered in  the  Church  under  the  sym- 
bol of  water  and  then  (that  which  Baptism 
signifies)  its  verity,  which  is  wrought  in 
the  heart  by  the  grace  of  regeneration. 
By  the  Blood,  first  the  sacrament  of  the 
Eucharist,  1  Cor.  10:16  which  is  the  com- 
munion of  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  then 
7* 


154  WATER  AND  BLOOD. 

the  grace  of  justification,  or  remission  of 
sins  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  which  is  sealed 
in  this  sacrament.  And  thus,  we  may  in 
a  sense  note  six  several  parts  of  this  testi- 
mony, not  differing  totally  in  kind,  but 
mutually  answering  and  subordinate  to  each 
other.  For  the  external  are  symbols  of 
internal  things ;  and  the  internal  are  the 
verity  and  reality  signified  by  the  external 
things."* 

But  let  us  briefly  consider  apart  the 
two  truths  set  forth  in  the  drops  which 
issued  from  the  side  of  Jesus.  "Forthwith 
came  there  out  blood  and  water;"  or  pen- 
etrating to  the  hidden  sense:  The  two 
geeat  benefits  which  we  owe  to  our 
dying  Lord  are  Expiation  and  Sanctifi- 
cation,  Expiation  by  blood,  Sanctification 
by  water.  You  will  observe  a  difference 
in  the  two  writings  of  John,  as  to  the 
order  of  statement.  In  the  Epistle  it  is, 
"  this  is  He  that  came  by  water  and  Mood." 
Our  text  gives  the  order  of  appearance  in 
the  actual  fact,  which  is  at  the  same  time 
the     order    of    application    in    the    sinner's 

*  4  Turretin,  115. 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  155 

consciousness;  seeing  he  first  comes  to  the 
blood  of  Jesus  for  pardon  and  then  to  the 
sense  of  being  purified.  But  in  the  other 
statement  the  regenerating  influence  is  placed 
first,  which  is  also  the  order  of  the  two 
sacraments,  and  in  a  sense  the  order  of  na- 
ture, because  the  soul  is  changed  before  it 
believes  unto  justification.  "We  will  follow 
the  words  before  us. 

I.  Expiation.  Blood  has  this  meaning 
in  all  the  Old  Testament,  the  language  of 
which  was,  "Without  shedding  of  blood  is 
no  remission."  All  the  levitical  rites,  dur- 
ing centuries,  were  preparing  the  Church 
to  comprehend  this  bloodshe elding  upon  the 
Cross.  Every  lamb  which  throbbed,  bled 
and  died  under  the  priestly  knife ;  every 
baptism  with  the  hyssop  dipped  in  "the 
bowls  of  the  altar,"  every  affusion  of  the 
sinner,  the  congregation  or  the  mercy-seat, 
drew  expectant  eyes  towards  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  taketk  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  Nor  is  that  system  of  types  obso- 
lete, as  a  means  of  instruction.  For  al- 
though the  Old  Testament  is  dark  until 
we   read  the   New,    yet  the   latter  gives  a 


156  WATER  AND   BLOOD. 

clew   with   which    to    thread    all   the   laby- 
rinth of  Mosaic  rites, 

The  first  grand  need  which  a  re- 
turning sinner  feels,  is  need  of  recon- 
ciliation. Till  relieved  here,  he  can  at- 
tend to  nothing  else,  not  even  the  bless- 
ed work  of  the  sanctifying  Spirit.  He  has 
sinned  against  the  glorious  God.  Wrath 
looks  down  upon  his  hell-deserving  heart. 
%  Guilt  stains  and  defiles  his  conscience.  The 
cry  within  his  bosom  is,  "Take  away  the 
vengeance  of  God — give  me  reconciliation 
—  standing  in  his  presence  —  justifying 
righteousness  or  you  offer  me  all  the  rest 
in  vain !" 

This  demand  of  the  heart  only  echoes 
the  higher  demand  of  infinite  Justice.  All 
ages  were  in  travail  with  this  unuttered 
secret.  Eivers  of  blood  flowed  through  the 
temple  courts  of  Moriah,  to  prepare  for 
Gethsemane  and  Golgotha.  Here,  amidst 
earthquake  and  darkness,  the  marvellous 
achievement  takes  place.  "  Messiah  is  the 
end  of  the  law  for  righteousness."  The 
mystery  is  revealed.  The  Holy  of  holies 
is  made  accessible.  Its  golden  glories  are 
now  as  a  common  thing,  in  comparison  with 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  157 

the  divine  reality.  And  so  the  vail  of  the 
temple  is  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to 
the  bottom.  The  hour  has  come.  The  Son 
of  Man  is  glorified.  That  immaculate  Spirit 
passes  away  from  pain  forever.  The  em- 
blematic blood  is  forced  from  his  sacred 
side.  Let  me  repeat  the  saying  of  Augus- 
tine :  '  Behold,  O  sinner,  the  price  of  thy 
redemption !'  O  if  the  true  protomartyr 
John  the  Baptist  looked  down  upon  the 
Cross  from  the  paradise  to  which  he  had 
been  borne  out  of  his  own  blood  .  .  .  must 
he  not  with  rapture  and  awe  have  repeated 
his  Gospel,  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  ? 
Now  is  he  lying  dead  on  the  divine  altar. 
The  work  is  complete  in  the  court  with- 
out. The  High  Priest  has  gone  in  with 
the  sacrificial  blood  to  sprinkle  it  upon  the 
mercyseat,  in  the  heavenly  places  not  made 
with  hands.  But  see  !  another  John,  stands 
all  absorbed  in  wonder,  grief,  and  believ- 
ing love.  He  begins  to  comprehend  the 
meaning  of  a  thousand  sayings  of  prophets 
and  of  his  Lord.  He  catches  an  inspira- 
tion which,  during  a  long  pilgrimage,  is  to 
make  him  preeminently  the  apostle  of  love. 
He    beholds    the   frame    which    he     loved, 


158  WATER  AND  BLOOD. 

and  with  every  fibre  of  which  lie  is  in 
tender  sympathy,  convulsed  into  agonizing 
distortion,  stiffened  by  extension,  marred 
with  gore,  and  stark  in  the  chillness  of 
an  evening  from  which  the  sun  had  so 
long  withdrawn  himself.  But  even  the 
warmth  of  human  love  is  swallowed  up  in 
a  holier  sympathy.  c  My  sins,  are  visited 
there  !'  "  He  is  the  Propitiation  for  our 
sins ;  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for 
the   sins  of  the   whole   world." 

In  the  solemn  pathetic  discourses  of 
primitive  Christians,  when  they  met  to 
commemorate  the  broken  body  and  flowing 
blood  of  Jesus,  they  doubtless  pointed 
to  the  holy*  sacrament  as  depicting  the 
event  which  we  are  considering.  'This 
broken  loaf,'  they  would  say,  c  recalls  to 
us  the  beloved  side  whose  death-whiteness 
was  crimsoned  with  its  heart's  blood.'  '  This 
we  do  in  remembrance  of  Him,  in  remem- 
brance of  a  death  fresh  and  recent ;  a 
death  to  which  we  owe  our  soul's  rescue 
from  wrath  and  curse.  He  bare  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree.  By  these 
stripes  are  we  healed.  It  is  Justification, 
and   of   course    the    Pardon    (that   Justifica- 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  159 

tion  includes)  which  comes  to  us  from  the 
side  of  our  Redeemer.  Jesus  is  made  sin 
for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  him.  It  is  the  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  our  faith  as  sinners. 
Not  only  do  we  believe  in  God  the  Fa- 
ther, but  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  who 
was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  dead  and  buried." 
But  there  is  another  great  benefit  which 
we   receive  from   Christ  on  the   Cross : 

II.  Sanctification. — This  is  the  natural 
significancy  of  Water  in  all  the  ceremonial 
hieroglyphic  of  the  ancient  rites.  There 
were  divers  "washings"  (baptisms),  as  the 
Apostle  Paul  writes.  No  figure  could  be 
more  expressive,  than  cleansing  of  the  body 
to  represent  the  cleansing  of  the  soul. 
And  therefore  we  find  the  sacred  writers 
eliding,  as  if  unconsciously,  from  one  to 
the  other,  and  speaking  of  outward  when 
they  really  mean  inward  washing.  A  He- 
brew convert  would  especially  do  thus. 
Accustomed  to  the  ceremonial  ablutions, 
which  relieved  his  conscience  in  regard  to 
breaches  of  ritual  holiness,  he  would  recur 


160  WATEK  AND  BLOOD. 

to  them,  when  he  wished  to  feel  and 
express  the  inward  purity  which  they  typi- 
fied. Drawn  to  look  into  the  true  hut 
invisible  Sanctum  sanctorum,  he  would  fol- 
low with  his  eye  the  divine  propitiatory 
Messiah,  entering  within  the  veil  with  the 
tokens  of  his  bloody  sacrifice ;  and  so 
would  fall  in,  as  thousands  must  have  clone, 
with  those  glorious  words,  Heb.  10:19-22, 
"  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  en- 
ter into  the  holiest  of  holies  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way  which 
he  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  vail, 
that  is  to  say,  his  fiesh ;  and  having  a 
High  Pelest  over  the  house  of  God;  let 
us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart  in  full 
assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts  sprin- 
kled from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies 
washed  with  pure  water."  I  pray  you 
Christian  hearers  lose  not  the  phrase ;  but 
mark  how  New  Testament  experience  uses 
Old  Testament  idiom ;  our  bodies  washed 
with  pure  water.  "  The  like  figure  where- 
unto "  we  may  without  perversion  of  Pe- 
ter's words  add,  "  doth  now  save  us,  even 
Baptism ;  not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth 
of  the   fiesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  con- 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  161 

science  toward  God ;  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ."  1  Peter  3  :  21.  Nothing 
but  the  most  extreme  bias  of  a  foregone 
conclusion  and  partisan  zeal  for  a  darling 
form,  could  ever  have  led  any  to  maintain 
that  the  idea  of  cleansing  is  not  essential 
to  baptism.  Washing,  not  dipping,  is  the 
primary  notion.  Ancient  bathing  was  sel- 
dom by  immersion,  even  when  great  lavers 
were  used.  The  classical  scholar  knows 
that  the  Baptisterion  of  the  .Greeks  was  a 
small  vessel.  Scripture  lays  no  stress  on 
the  mode  of  signifying  a  cleansing  applica- 
tion of  water,  still  less  makes  it  essential. 
Cleansing  operations  are  variously  set  forth 
in  emblem.  Of  the  great  Laver  of  brass, 
it  is  written,  "  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall 
wash  their  hands  and  their  feet  thereat." 
Ex.  30  :  19.  Of  an  unclean  person,  Lev. 
15  :  30  "he  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  bathe 
his  flesh  in  running  water."  Of  ceremonial 
defilement  by  corpses  Num.  19  :  18  "And  a 
clean  person  shall  take  hyssop  and  dip  it 
in  the  water,  and  sprinkle  it  upon  the 
tent."  The  minds  of  the  people  were  im- 
bued with  these  symbols  of  purification,  so 
that  bedewing  with  water  signified  to  them 


162  WATEK  AND   BLOOD. 

the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Thus  were  they  prepared  to  re- 
joice in  the  prophetic  promise  Ezek.  36  :  25 
"  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon 
you  and  ye  shall  be  clean."  The  asper- 
sion or  affusion  of  water  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament signified  the  making  clean ;  so  did 
the  holy  drops  which  followed  the  cruel 
spear ;  so  does  the  sacramental  water  which 
falls   upon  the  brow. 

Our  salvation,  Christian  brethren,  had 
been  incomplete,  if  Jesus  had  stopped  short 
with  pardon.  By  atonement  he  procures 
another  infinite  good.  In  justification,  we 
receive  a  change  of  standing,  in  reference 
to  justice  and  law;  but  we  need  a  change 
of  nature  and  life.  Our  blessed  Lord  did 
not  die  to  keep  us  in  an  eternity  of  sin- 
ning. "Nor  yet  did  he  secure  for  us  re- 
mission of  God's  wrath,  simply  that  we 
mi^ht  henceforward  advance  on  our  own 
account,  and  have  a  new  trial.  Nay;  we 
should  not  have  stood  firm  an  hour.  He 
came  and  suffered,  moreover,  for  a  higher 
end,  than  to  afford  us  the  greatest  motive 
to  be  holy.  These  are  not  God's  ways. 
This  Redeemer  who  hangs    dead    upon   the 


WATER  AND  BLOOD.  163 

tree  lias  endured  this  death  out  of  infinite 
love  to  holiness  and  infinite  regard  for  the 
glory  of  the  Father.  "  This  is  he  that 
came  by  water,"  (more  exactly  "  with  wa- 
ter.") This  is  he  that  came  with  sanctify- 
ing influence ;  that  "  he  might  purify  to 
himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good 
works."  While  we  look  upon  the  baptis- 
mal flow  which  spreads  over  his  side,  we 
recognize  in  it  not  merely  the  wounding 
of  a  body  which  never  knew  sin,  holy, 
harmless  and  undefiled — but  the  pledge  of 
holiness  in  his  people,  as  ensured  by  this 
his  sacrificial  death.  For  by  his  Cross, 
Jesus  has  made  holiness  desirable,  possible 
and  certain.  First,  the  Cross  makes  holi- 
ness desirable.  There  can  be  no  stronger 
motive  to  inward  purity  than  that  which 
is  presented  in  the  death  of  Christ.  "The 
love  of  Christ  constrains  us,  because  we 
thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then 
all  died,  and  that  he  died  for  all  that  they 
which  live  should  no  longer  live  unto  them- 
selves, but  unto  him  that  died  for  them 
and  rose  again."  If  you  would  be  moved 
to  holy  living,  self-denial  and  mortification 
of  the    flesh  —  gaze   upon   the  Cross.     Con- 


164:  WATER  AND   BLOOD. 

sicler  that  it  was  sin  which  crowned  that 
head,  fixed  those  hands  and  feet  with 
spikes  to  the  tree,  and  rent  its  sacrilegious 
way  into  the  chambers  of  that  holy  side. 
If  indeed  it  should  he  your  purpose  to 
harbor  sin,  you  will  not  be  able  to  bear 
the  sight ;  you  will  turn  away  to  other 
thoughts;  you  will  avoid  those  chapters 
of  the  Gospel  which  treat  of  the  Passion, 
you  will  absent  yourself  from  the  com- 
munion of  his  body  and  blood,  For  the 
more  a  believer  contemplates  the  Cross,  the 
more  will  he  long  to  be  holy,  and  to  pur- 
ify himself  even  as    He   is   pure. 

Secondly,  The  Cross  makes  holiness  pos- 
sible. Even  if  we  were  cleansed  from  the 
guilt  of  sin,  that  is,  freed  from  being  lia- 
ble to  punishment,  the  heart  and  conscience 
w^ould  cry  out  for  more.  There  must  be 
water  as  well  as  blood,  purity  as  well  as 
pardon,  power  to  obey  as  well  as  sense  of 
escape.  This  power  is  only  from  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God,  procured  in  the  way  of  pur- 
chase, by  Christ's  obedience  unto  death; 
and  claimed  by  him  on  his  ascension  into 
heaven.  Jesus,  as  Mediator,  has  merited 
that  the   Spirit  of  holiness  should  be  given 


WATER  AND  BLOOD.  165 

to  his  people.  Before  lie  suffered,  he  in- 
structed them,  that  unless  he  suffered,  this 
Comforter  would  not  come.  At  Pentecost 
there  was  a  signal  epiphany  of  the  Spirit; 
but  not  confined  to  that  day.  "He  that 
believeth  in  me"  said  the  Lord,  "from 
within  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  wa- 
ter." "This  spake  He  of  the  Spirit  which 
they  that  believe  on  him  should  receive: 
for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  be- 
cause that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." 
But  now  that  he  has  been  glorified  (in  the 
affecting  sense  which  he  has  himself  ex- 
plained to  us,  Jno.  13:31)  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  given  to  all  believers,  to  enable  them  to 
live  unto  God.  This  power  therefore  we 
receive  by  the  death  of  Jesus.  Thirdly,  the 
Cross  makes  holiness  certain.  Not  merely 
desirable  by  giving  motive ;  not  merely 
possible,  by  giving  aid;  but  infallibly  cer- 
tain, by  giving  pledge  and  assurance.  The 
salvation  which  Christ  has  bought  by  his 
most  innocent  and  infinitely  precious  dying, 
is  not  a  loose  contingency,  a  chance  of 
doing  better,  a  probability  suspended  on 
the  believer's  mutable  will;  but  a  true 
and  finished  redemption,  securing  the  grace 


166  WATER  AND  BLOOD. 

which  shall  sweetly  but  assuredly  fix  that 
will.  Look  at  the  heavenly  chain,  remark 
how  its  golden  links  hang  together,  and 
consider  which  of  them  you  would  strike 
out.  Rom.  8  :  30  "Moreover  whom  he 
did  predestinate,  them  he  also  called:  and 
whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified; 
and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glori- 
fied." The  pledge  issued  from  that  blessed 
side.  "If  one  died  for  all,  then  all  died." 
By  the  effect  of  the  covenant,  "we  are  cru- 
cified with  Christ;"  we  die  unto  sin;  ceas- 
ing more  and  more  from  the  practice  of 
it.  The  Spirit  of  holiness  causes  us  to  love 
and  practise  what  is  pleasing  to  God.  As 
surely  as  any  man  believes  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  so  surely  shall  he  be  saved; 
and  saved  from  sin.  Thus  the  cross  makes 
our  sanctification  certain.  But  we  must 
hasten  towards  our  conclusion.  We  have 
beheld  issuing  from  our  Saviours  pierced 
side  both  blood  and  water.  We  have 
learnt  in  the  school  of  types  that  these 
denote  our  Justification  and  our  Sanctifica- 
tion;  and  that  the  Christian  sacraments,  of 
the .  Eucharist  and  Baptism  denote  the 
same.       Take  the   two    together,    and    they 


WATER  AND  BLOOD.  167 

comprehend  our  salvation.  If  Christ  "is 
made  unto  us,"  first,  "righteousness"  and 
then  " sanctiiication,"  we  have  all;  at  least 
in  its  beginning,  in  pledge,  in  hope,  and  in 
certitude.  Heaven  itself  is  only  the  per- 
fection of  peace  with  God,  and  the  con- 
summation of  holiness.  Neither  in  heaven 
nor  earth  can  we  have  one,  without  having 
something  of  the  other.  To  seek  for  par- 
don, without  hatred  of  sin  or  a  desire  to 
he  delivered  from  it,  is  the  delusion  of 
antinomian  hypocrisy.  "In  this  the  child- 
ren of  God  are  manifest,  and  the  children 
of  the  devil ;  whosoever  doeth  not  righteous- 
ness is  not  of  God,  neither  he  that 
loveth  not  his  "brother."  1  Jno.  3:10  If 
God  has  touched  us  by  his  Spirit,  if  he 
has  made  us  know  the  plague  of  our  own 
heart;  if  he  has  so  laid  the  plummet  of 
the  Law  beside  the  crookedness  of  our  life, 
as  to  cause  despair  of  creature-help ;  if  he 
has  so  revealed  himself  in  the  majesty  of 
his  holiness,  that  we  have  abhorred  our- 
selves and  repented  in  dust  and  ashes; — - 
then,  at  the  Cross,  we  have  craved  both 
blood  to  expiate  and  water  to  cleanse.  So 
did  the   Hebrew    penitent    at    God's    altar; 


168  WATER  AND  BLOOD. 

he  craved  the  drops  which  had  just  gushed 
from  the  lamb  of  sacrifice ;  he  craved .  the 
baptism  which  should  afford  cleansing  to 
his  ceremonial  vileness.  The  penitent  king, 
stained  with  adultery  and  murder,  groans 
forth  a  twofold  wish:  "Purge  me  with 
hyssop  and  I  shall  be  clean;  wash  me, 
and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow."  True 
faith  looks  toward  the  crucified  Redeemer 
for  both.  God  is  offended,  and  of  our  own 
stores  we  can  make  no  reparation  or  atone- 
ment: but  "the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son  ckanseth  us  from  all  sin."  It  is  be- 
cause we  have  approached  the  Saviour,  that 
we  desire  to  approach  the  sacrament.  At 
altars,  the  blood  was  sprinkled  upon  the 
body;  at  the  Lord's  Table,  when  faith  is 
present,  it  is  sprinkled  upon  the  heart  and 
conscience.  And.  the  effect  is  peace.  Being 
justified  by  faith  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  is 
no  more  condemnation  for  us,  than  for 
Christ  himself.  The  sword  of  justice  can 
find  no  spot  on  the  believing  sinner,  which 
is  not  covered  with  the  blood  of  Jesus ; 
and  against  that  blood  its  edge  is  power- 
less. 


WATER  AND   BLOOD.  169 

And  in  regard  to  tile  otlier  point; 
every  renewed  soul  longs  and  importunately 
wrestles  for  sanctification.  It  would  be  a 
serious  error,  if  we  sought  it  except  from 
the  crucified  Jesus.  It  is  a  current  from 
his  heart.  The  principle  of  holiness  flows 
from  him  to  us.  Sin  is  nailed  to  his  cross. 
Virtue  comes  thence,  to  draw  our  feelings 
heavenward.  Our  former  life  is  no  more ; 
we  live  anew.  "And  the  life  that  we  now 
live,  we  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  Gocl, 
who  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us." 
Every  believer  therefore  feels  the  force  of 
this  exhortation,  at  the  Lord's  Table:  "Set 
your  affections  on  things  above,  not  on 
things  on  the  earth.  For  ye  are  dead,  and 
your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  O 
brethren,  let  us  continually  look  to  Jesus, 
for  this  complete  salvation,  purchased  by 
his  agonies;  attested  by  his  wounded  side; 
and  symbolized  by  the  sacraments  of  this 
day. 


VII. 
CHRIST   BEARING    OUR   SINS. 


CHEIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS. 


1  Peter  2  :  24. 


"  Who  his  own    self  bare    our  sins  in    his  own  body 
on  the  tree." 

As  soon  as  this  text  is  pronounced,  the 
hearer  is  aware  that  it  is  not  a  singular 
declaration  of  Scripture,  but  one  of  a  very 
numerous  class.  It  also  speaks  a  doctrine, 
which  is  woven  into  the  very  texture  of 
our  common  Christianity;  so  that  he  can 
scarcely  be  esteemed  other  than  an  infidel, 
who  denies  that  Christ  died  for  us.  It  is 
a  doctrine  also,  which  enters  into  the  very 
vitals  of  experience,  and  furnishes  the  great 
resting-place  of  faith.  And,  what  is  espe- 
cially proper  to  be  observed  this  day,  is 
the  truth  of  all  others  which  we  are  com- 
ing to  celebrate,  at  the  holy  Table.  Yet 
it  must  be  acknowledged  with  pain,  that  it 


174  OHEIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

is  more  easy  to  profess  it  in  a  form  of 
sound  words,  than  to  believe  it;  and  that 
it  has  been  so  altered,  and  diminished  and 
shorn  of  its  genuine  dignity  and  propor- 
tions, that  we  often  need  to  re-examine  its 
meaning,  and  reassert  the  foundations  of 
our  faith.  This  particular  doctrine,  the 
most  precious  of  all  to  the  pious  soul,  has 
been  most  vehemently  impugned,  until  we 
find  even  professors  of  orthodox  Christian- 
ity, yielding  to  the  influence  of  surrounding 
error,  and  gradually  surrendering  all  that 
is  essential  in  the  idea  of  Atonement. — It 
was  a  favourite  tenet  with  the  Reformers, 
and  continued  long  to  hold  its  place  in  all 
sound  orthodox  churches.  But  in  our  own 
day,  there  is  a  manifest  tendency  to  explain 
away  its  import,  and  to  concede  undue 
force  to  the  objections  of  opponents.  These 
objections  have  in  many  instances  been 
aimed  at  opinions  charged  upon  us,  which 
we  do  not  hold;  at  exaggerations,  perver- 
sions, and  even  caricatures  of  the  truth : 
and  all  the  changes  have  been  rung  on 
the  terms  Imputation,  Satisfaction,  and  Sub- 
stitution; as  if  these  had  been  found 
chargeable   with    inherent    injustice    or    ab- 


CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS.  175 

surdity.  The  very  first  thing,  therefore, 
which  we  should  attempt,  is  to  clear  away 
certain  mists,  which  have  been  conjured  up 
around  the  Scriptural  statement. — Let  us, 
then,  in  the  way  of  negation,  state  briefly 
what  we  do  not  mean,  by  Christ's  bearing 
our  sins. 

I. 

1.  When  we  assert  that  Christ  bore  our 
sins,  we  do  not  mean  that  he  was  a  sin- 
ner. It  is  a  glorious  truth,  which  shines 
bright  on  the  inspired  pages,  that  "in  him 
was  no  sin."  "He  did  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  his  mouth."  "He  was  holy, 
harmless,  undefilecl,  and  separate  from  sin- 
ners." He  is  by  way  of  eminence,  "Jesus 
Christ  the  righteous."  Only  as  such  could 
he  ever  have  cleared  away  our  guilt.  Be- 
ing born  by  a  miraculous  intervention,  he 
came  into  the  world  infinitely  exempt  from 
the  leprosy  of  our  race.  He  was  hovered 
over  by  temptation:  but  there  was  in  him 
no  original  taint,  on  which  temptation  could 
alight.  His  nature  was  human,  but  not 
peccable.  He  was  as  pure  as  the  first 
Adam,  and  infinitely  more  secure.  That 
."holy     thing"     which     was     born     of    the 


176  CHRIST  BEARING   OUR  SINS. 

Blessed  Virgin,  was  destined  never  to  admit 
the  tarnish  of  one  sinful  compliance. 
Against  a  life-long  tempest  of  solicitation, 
that  heavenly  "Will  opposed  itself,  with  the 
resistance  of  an  infallible  constancy.  In  no 
sense  therefore  do  we  maintain,  that  the 
Son  of  God  was  ever,  even  for  an  instant, 
]3artaker  of  our  corruptions.  He  bore  our 
sins,  without  bearing  their  power  or  their 
pollution.  Of  their  vileness  and  lawlessness 
his  sacred  chaste  and  lovely  soul  had  no 
experience.  And  the  allegation  is  one 
which  we  reject  as  nothing  short  of  ca- 
lumny. 

2.  When  we  say  that  Christ  bore  our 
sins,  we  do  not  mean  that  he  suffered  pain 
of  conscience.  Remorse  is  the  necessary 
consequence  of  sin,  and  part  of  its  punish- 
ment. It  is  involved  in  the  curse  of  the 
law,  and  in  the  penalty,  which  is  death; 
and  fearfully  is  it  experienced  by  trans- 
gressors. But  He  who  knew  no  sin,  could 
know  no  repentance,  no  contrition,  no  per- 
sonal regrets,  no  anguish  of  guilty  self-ac- 
cusation. It  was  a  23art  of  the  penalty 
which  flowed  directly  from  personal  iniqui- 
ty, and  was   inseparable  from  conscience  of 


CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS.  177 

the  same.  In  its  nature  it  can  be  visited 
only  on  the  personally  offending  member. 
The  very  holiness,  the  very  Divinity  of  the 
Redeemer  forbade  that  he  should  drink 
this  bitter  ingredient  in  the  penal  cup. 
He  could  suffer  unto  weariness,  unto  shame, 
unto  fear,  unto  anguish,  unto  death — but 
not  unto  remorse.  Even  in  Gethsemane, 
when  his  soul  was  exceeding  sorrowful,  and 
on  the  cross,  when  he  pierced  heaven  with 
his  imploring  cry,  he  could  no  more  suffer 
compunction  of  conscience,  than  he  could 
speak  falsehood,  or  blaspheme.  "We  do, 
therefore,  in  the  face  of  our  adversaries, 
protest  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  experi- 
enced no   pang   of  conscience. 

3.  We  do  not  mean,  that  Christ  was  at 
any  time  personally  displeasing  to  God.  He 
bore  the  wrath  of  Gocl,  but  he  bore  it 
representatively.  The  sinner,  as  such,  is  in- 
finitely hateful  to  the  holy  God,  who  ab- 
hors and  detests  every  measure  of  his 
iniquity:  he  is  under  his  wrath  and  curse, 
and  liable  to  the  consequences  of  his  un- 
utterable displeasure.  But  when  the  Son 
of  God  assumed  the  place  of  the  sinner, 
he  did  not,  as  we  have  seen,  assume  any 
8* 


178  CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

of  Ms  unholy  taint.  In  his  own  person, 
he  was  infinitely  pure;  and  it  was  neces- 
sary for  him  so  to  be,  in  order  to  be  the 
Saviour.  "What  he  did,  in  his  humiliation, 
was  what  God  assigned  to  him  to  do. 
When  he  was  made  a  curse  for  us,  it 
was  because  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise 
him.  He  never  was  more  pleasing  to  God, 
he  never  was  more  righteous,  he  never  was 
more  acceptable  and  lovely,  he  never  was 
more  intensely  and  immeasurably  fulfilling 
the  will  of  God,  than  when  he  cried  EM, 
Eli,  lama  sabacthani!  If  this  exclamation 
has  a  difficulty,  it  is  a  difficulty  for  the 
adversaries  of  substitution:  let  them  ex- 
plain it.  For  our  part,  we  hold  it  to  be 
an  awfully  mysterious  expression  of  the 
truth,  that  at  that  moment  of  darkness  and 
earthquake,  Jesus  Christ  was  so  involved 
in  the  consequences  of  our  sin,  as  to  sink 
under  the  sense  of  agony,  and  to  feel  the 
absence  of  all  consoling  divine  influence. 
But  while  angels  stooped  to  look  into 
these  things,  they  might  have  heard  from 
the  invisible  throne,  the  words  of  infinite 
complacency:  uThis  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom   I  am  well-pleased!"       The    all-holy 


CHRIST   BEARING  OUR  SINS.  179 

Jehovah  cannot  hate  holiness,  and  could  not 
hate  his  only-begotten  Son,  in  the  exercise 
of  the  sublimest  holiness  which  the  universe 
has  known.  We  hold  fast  to  the  great 
and  precious  truth,  that  never  for  a  single 
moment  was  the  Mediator  displeasing  to 
his   Father  in  heaven. 

4.  "When  we  say  that  Christ  bore  our 
sins  we  do  not  mean  that  there  was  any 
transfer  of  personal  character.  Let  it  be 
observed,  that  the  chief  strength  of  our 
opposers  lies  in  this  fallacy.  They  charge 
us  with  maintaining  a  transfer  of  personal 
attributes,  and  moral  qualities,  and  easily 
triumph  over  the  phantom  which  they  have 
raised.  We,  as  well  as  they,  hold  such  a 
transfer  to  be  impossible  and  absurd: 
and  (be  it  declared  for  the  thousandth 
time)  it  is  no  such  thing  which  we  mean 
by  the  imputation  of  our  sin  to  Christ. 
Our  sins  must  ever  remain  our  sins,  and 
the  sins  of  no  one  else,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  as  a  historical  verity,  as  a  personal 
transaction.  As  deeds,  and  as  connected 
with  sinful  motives  and  desires,  they  attach 
to  our  own  persons,  and  are  to  be  re- 
pented of,  and  eternally  remembered  by  us 


180  CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

as  our  own.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
Christ's  acts  and  sufferings,  as  matter  of 
fact  and  history,  are  and  cannot  but  for- 
ever be,  his  own  acts  and  sufferings,  and 
those  of  no  other  being  in  the  universe. 
There  is  no  confounding  of  personality,  nor 
has  such  a  thing  ever  been  maintained  by 
our  theologians,  though  assiduously  and  per- 
tinaciously charged,  during  at  least  two 
centuries.  We  hold  indeed  an  intimate 
and  blessed  union  between  the  Head  and 
the  members;  we  hold  that  our  sins  were 
visited  on  him,  and  that  his  righteousness 
enures  to  our  benefit,  but  we  repudiate  all 
such  commingling  of  personality  as  this 
imagined  tenet  would  convey.  —  Having 
therefore  settled  this  preliminary  and  nega- 
tive part,  we  are  prepared  to  come  more 
directly  to  the  state  of  the  question,  by 
declaring,  positively,  what  we  mean  when 
we  assert  that  Christ  bore  our  sins:  it  is 
the  second  branch   of  the   discourse. 

II. 

1.  TJie  Lord  Jesus  Christ  lore  our  na- 
ture. It  was  the  all-essential  preliminary  to 
his  whole  work.     To   be  our  Head,  he  be- 


CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS.  181 

came  bone  of  our  bone.  "The  Word  was 
made  flesh."  It  is  the  greatest  and  the 
most  precious  of  mysteries.  He  passed  by 
the  nature  of  angels,  and  took  the  seed  of 
Abraham.  It  was  necessary  to  his  humilia- 
tion. Manhood  was  demanded,  in  order 
that  he  might  suffer,  since  as  God  he 
could  not  suffer.  He  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  flesh,  and  appeared  in  fashion 
as  a  man.  And  in  this  descent,  he  took 
orpon  him  a  humanity,  which,  though  sin- 
less, was  so  far  allied  to  sin  as  to  have 
all  its  infirmities,  and  all  its  capacities  for 
pain.  Never,  I  suppose,  since  the  creation, 
was  there  a  human  soul  or  body  so  capa- 
cious of  pain,  so  sensible  of  distress,  so 
susceptible  of  the  extremes  of  agony.  The 
"man  Christ  Jesus"  was  not  the  heroic, 
blissful  man  of  Eden,  but  one  tempted  in 
all  points  as  we  are,  sin  only  excepted.  It 
was  part  of  his  mediatorial  humbling  and 
subjugation,  that  he  was  "very  man;"  and 
it  was  a  prerequisite  to  all  which  followed, 
that  he  should  be  capable  of  painful  en- 
durance and  of  death.  God  cannot  die; 
and  when  the  God-man,  Jesus  Christ  died, 
it   was   only  the    human  nature,  which   felt 


182  CHRIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS. 

the   pang,  drank   up   the   suffering,  and    ex- 
perienced   the   dissolution. 

2.  Christ  actually  endured  pain.  By- 
pain  we  include  all,  whether  mental  or  bod 
ily,  that  is  opposed  to  ease  and  happiness. 
It  was  in  this  way  only  that  he  could 
bear  our  sins.  It  was  not  now  and  then, 
that  he  was  so  humbled;  but  all  his  life 
long,  till  his  cross.  He  was  a  man  of 
sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief;  that  is, 
the  fellow,  the  companion,  the  familiar  of 
Grief.  Sorrow,  like  a  shadow,  was  always 
at  his  side,  till  he  entered  into  the  shadow 
of  death.  Time  would  not  allow  us  to 
particularize  the  pains  and  sorrows  of 
Gethsemane,  Jerusalem  and  Calvary.  Every 
step  was  marked  with  tears  and  blood. 
Weariness,  exhaustion,  sighing,  shame,  ex- 
quisite pangs  of  body,  unutterable  darkness 
and  anguish  of  soul,  characterized  the  scene, 
and  filled  the  cup  to  the  brim.  Follow 
the  Son  of  God,  from  the  table  to  the 
garden,  from  the  garden  to  the  high-priest 
— to  Pilate — to  Herod — to  Golgotha — and 
you  will  need  no  arguments  to  prove  to 
you  that  he  was  a  sufferer.  Indeed  this 
is   one   of  the  points,  about  which   there  is 


CHRIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS.  183 

no  dispute.  Those  who  even  deny  his  di- 
vinity, agree  with  Christians  that  he  was  a 
great  Martyr,  and  therefore  a  great  sufferer. 
And  all  who  cleave  to  the  least  measure 
of  gospel-truth  acknowledge  that  these  suf- 
ferings were  in  some  way  or  other  for  our 
benefit,  and  are  included  in  the  meaning 
of  the  text,  whatever  else  be  excluded. 
Thus  far,  therefore,  in  our  journey  towards 
the  cross  of  Christ,  our  adversaries  bear 
us  company:  but  now  our  paths  begin  to 
diverge:    for  it   must   be   added 

3.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  suffered  for 
our  sins.  It  is  one  of  those  truths  which 
lie  on  the  very  surface  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  which  must  be  twisted  into  violent 
metaphor,  before  it  can  be  robbed  of  its 
meaning.  To  give  but  a  few  instances: 
Is.  53  "He  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  car- 
ried our  sorrows."  "He  was  wounded  for 
our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our 
iniquities" — Rom.  5:6.  "  Christ  died  for  the 
ungodly."— 1  Cor.  15:3.  "Christ  died  for 
our  sins."  1  Thes.  5:10.  "Who  died  for 
us."— Rom.  6:10.  "In  that  he  died— he 
died  unto  sin,  once."  1  Pet.  2:21.  "Christ 
suffered  for  us."     3 :  18.     "  Christ  hath  once 


184  CHRIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS. 

suffered   for  sins."     4:1.     "  Christ   hath  suf- 
fered for  us   in   the   flesh." 

You  know  how  easily  we  could  multiply 
similar  passages.  "What  we  are  now  to  re- 
mark in  them,  is,  first,  that  they  declare, 
that  Christ's  sufferings  were  for  us,  and 
secondly,  that  they  were  for  our  sins.  A 
friend,  a  father,  a  husband,  a  sister,  may 
suffer,  and  yet  not  for  us;  or  these  beloved 
ones  may  suffer  for  us,  and  yet  not  for 
our  sins.  But  the  suffering  of  Jesus  stands 
out  with  this  striking  peculiarity,  that  it  is 
always  represented  as  being,  not  only  for 
our  sakes,  but  for  our  sins.  This  has  been 
the  concurrent  voice  of  all  Christendom 
which  deserves  the  name.  We  almost  in- 
sult the  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to 
deny  it.  Ancient  and  modern  believers, 
the  learned  student  and  the  unlettered 
hind,  have  read  the  words  alike;  and  the 
text  declares  the  same  humbling  yet  ex- 
alting truth,  that  he  "bare  our  sins  in  his 
own  body  on  the  tree."  What  is  true  of 
other  sufferings  is  eminently  true  of  his 
death.  It  wras  the  lowest  point  of  descent; 
it  was  the  last  suffering  he  could  endure; 
it  was  the    greatest   suffering;    it  was   that 


CHKIST  BEARING   OUR   SINS.  185 

which  sinners  most  dread.  The  tree,  there- 
fore, the  cross,  is  taken  as  the  sum,  the 
representative,  the  symbol,  of  all  the  com- 
plicated  endurance. 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  how  any  honest 
inquirer  can  turn  over  even  a  few  pages 
of  the  New  Testament,  without  admitting, 
that  (whether  that  book  be  true  or  false) 
its  writers  clearly  teach  that  the  cause  of 
Christ's  sufferings  and  death  was  our  sins; 
that  but  for  our  sins,  he  would  not  have 
suffered;  and  that  our  sins  are  in  some 
way  connected  with  all  his  humiliation  and 
all  his  pain.  And  thus  far,  also,  w^e  are 
accompanied  by  the  vast  majority  of  all 
who  have  pretended  to  the  Christian  name. 
But  the  number  is  perceptibly  lessened,  or 
rather  suddenly  falls  off,  when  we  proceed 
to  examine  why  Christ  suffered?  what  there 
was  in  our  sins  to  make  him  suffer?  or 
what  connexion  his  sufferings  have  with 
our  sins?  And  yet  this  is  the  very  kernel 
and  gist  of  the  whole  inquiry.  For  he 
might  have  suffered  and  even  died,  in  some 
relation  to  our  sins,  far  short  of  what 
Scriptural  expressions  bear.  For  example, 
he   might    suffer    as  an   example  of    virtue. 


186  CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

He  might  suffer,  as  a  martyr  to  that  truth, 
which  is  to  purge  our  sins.  He  might 
suffer,  to  afford  us  a  great  motive,  to  affect 
our  minds,  and  so  aid  us  in  subduing  sin. 
He  might  suffer,  to  show  how  much  he 
hated  sin.  Or,  in  some  vague  and  general 
way,  he  might  suffer,  to  show  to  the  Uni- 
verse that  sin  is  a  great  evil,  and  that 
God  abhors  it.  And,  in  fact,  these  have 
been  the  explanations  of  the  great  event, 
which  have  been  given  by  numerous  theo- 
logians, who  have  borne  the  Christian  name. 
There  is  not  one  of  them,  however,  which 
does  not  fall  far  short  of  the  genuine  and 
precious  meaning  of  the  text.  Whence,  we 
proceed  to  affirm  that 

4.  Christ  bore  our  sins,  in  this  sense 
that  he  bore  the  penaUy  of  our  sins.  This 
is  the  primary,  obvious,  and  necessary  mean- 
ing of  the  words:  that  which  common 
readers  in  all  ages  have  derived  from  them; 
and  which  has  been  received  without  re- 
luctance by  the  mind  of  universal  Christ- 
ianity. The  notion  is  not  recondite,  but 
one  which  a  child  may  apprehend.  We 
were  to  have  been  punished:  Christ  was 
punished  for   us.     We   were  to   have   died : 


CHKIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS.  187 

Christ  died  for  us.  It  is  the  plain  signifi- 
cation of  the  expression  often  repeated  in 
Scripture ;  "  Christ  died  for  us,"  that  is 
died  in  our  stead. 

But  here  the  adversary  rejoins,  that 
penalty  must  always  attach  to  the  person; 
that  he  who  has  sinned  must  be  punished; 
and  that  the  suffering  of  the  innocent  can- 
not benefit  the  guilty.  If  this  were  true, 
it  would  at  once  cut  off  all  our  hopes, 
and  put  an  end  to  all  proper  atonement. 
But,  blessed  be  God,  it  is  not  true.  The 
church  in  all  ages  has  held  first,  that  sin 
for  its  own  sake  deserves  the  wrath  and 
curse  of  God,  and  secondly,  that  to  redeem 
us  from  the  lavy,  God  sent  his  own  Son, 
in*  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  who  in  his 
own  person  fulfilled  those  demands,  and 
endured  that  curse  in  our  stead.  And  this 
is  so  far  from  violating  any  of  our  natural 
principles  of  justice,  that  it  is  of  all  things 
most  suited  to  relieve  and  pacify  the  af- 
flicted  conscience. 

•  The  Scriptures  represent  the  penalty  as 
a  debt,  which  our  Surety  pays  for  us. 
We  are  familiar  with  substitution  of  this 
kind   in  civil   cases,    which    would    not    be 


188  CHRIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS. 

true,  if  such  commutation  were  in  itself  re- 
pugnant to  the  common  sense  of  justice 
among  mankind.  Ancient  history  has  strik- 
ing instances  of  similar  substitution  in  crimi- 
nal and  capital  cases.  And  the  reason 
why  this  is  not  admitted  in  such  cases, 
under  modern  jurisdiction,  is  not  any  in- 
justice in  the  principle.  The  case,  we  ad- 
mit, must  be  a  peculiar  one,  in  which  such 
a  substitution  can  take  place  ;  and  if  ever 
there '  was  a  case  thus  peculiar,  in  which 
the  innocent  might  suffer  for  the  guilty,  it 
is  surely  this.  To  make  such  suffering  al- 
lowable, the  innocent  person  must  be  one, 
who  has  lordship  and  dominion  over  his 
own  life;  which  men  in  common  life,  have 
not ;  but  which  the  Son  of  God  had :  ■"  I 
lay  it  down  of  myself:  I  have  power  to 
lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it 
again."  Again,  the  innocent  surety  must 
assume  the  place  and  penalty,  of  his  own 
free  will :  which  was  eminently  and  glori- 
ously true  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Again,  he 
must  be  able  to  answer  all  the  demands 
of  the  law,  for  those  whom  he  represented. 
Again,  he  must  be  able  to  restore  himself 
from   death :   no   mere    man   could   do   this, 


CHRIST   BEARING   OUR  SINS.  189 

and  therefore  if  such  a  substitution  were  to 
take  place  in  a  capital  instance,  the  state 
would  lose  a  good  citizen.  Again,  the  in 
nocent  sufferer  must  ensure  the  restoration 
to  holiness  of  those  for  whom  he  dies ; 
which  no  man  on  earth  can  secure  for  a 
fellow-man ;  but  which  the  Lord  Jesus  tri- 
umphantly secures  for  those  who  are  re- 
deemed. In  the  substitution,  then,  of  this 
willing,  glorious,  triumphant  surety,  there  is 
no  injustice,  but  infinite  grace.  They  ob- 
ject to  us  that  it  is  incredible  that  the 
holy  and  just  God  should  charge  upon 
Christ  the  sins  of  others,  and  thus  make 
the  innocent  suffer  in  the  place  of  the 
guilty.  But  let  them  answer,  is  it  more 
credible,  or  more  equitable,  that  the  holy 
and  just  God  should  subject  the  innocent 
Redeemer  to  such  sufferings,  without  any 
such  imputation  ?  Christ  suffered  and  died. 
This  is  the  admitted  fact.  Now,  did  he 
suffer  as  a  surety  for  the  sinner,  taking  his 
place  ?  or  did  he  suffer,  without  being  a 
surety,  as  an  innocent  being,  by  a  mere  ar- 
bitrary infliction?  The  difficulty  appears 
then  to  be  altogether  with  the  objectors 
to  atonement. — The  truth  is,  all  the  ancient 


190  CHEIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

sacrifices  wrote  in  letters  of  blood,  the  word 
Substitution.  For  what  after  all,  is  the 
idea  of  sacrifice,  but  the  innocent  dying  for 
the  guilty  ?  It  was  an  emblem  which  the 
feeblest  mind  might  comprehend.  There, 
on  the  altar,  is  a  spotless  lamb — the  em- 
blem of  innocence.  Here  am  I,  a  polluted 
sinner.  I  lay  my  right  hand  on  the  un- 
blemished victim,  and  straightway  it  be- 
comes in  type  a  sinner.  I  should  have 
died — but  now  the  victim  dies — it  dies  for 
me — it  dies  in  my  place. — It  was  thus  the 
way  was  prepared  for  the  Lamb  of  God, 
that  taketk  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  It 
is  not  here  and  there,  but  everywhere, 
that  the  Bible  thus  represents  the  method 
of  our  salvation.  Isaiah  53.  "  He  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was 
bruised  for  our  iniquities,  the  chastisement 
of  our  peace  was  upon  him."  v.  6.  "  The 
Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us 
all:"  wherein  (to  any  man  who  is  capable 
of  understanding  the  words  he  utters)  does 
this  differ  from  saying  l  he  hath  imputed  to 
him  the  iniquity  of  us  all  V  v.  10.  "  Thou 
shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin." 
v.    11.      "  He   shall    bear    their   iniquities." 


CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS.  191 

v.  12.  "He  bare  the  sin  of  many."  But 
come  to  the  New  Testament.  Gal.  3:13. 
"  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us." 
Who  made  him  who  knew  no  sin,  to  be 
sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him."  It  would 
occupy  all  our  time  to  cite  the  passages, 
where  this  doctrine  is  taught  in  expres- 
sions which  cannot  be  mistaken  by  an  un- 
biassed mind.  And  we  never  find  unso- 
phisticated persons,  as  for  example,  ignorant 
inquirers,  or  our  own  little  children,  trou- 
bled with  those  difficulties  which  have 
made  this  doctrine  a  stumbling-block  to 
Jews  and  philosophers.  They  see  some- 
thing intelligible  and  lovely  in  Christ's 
coming  into  our  place,  and  dying  for  us. 
Especially  when  a  soul  is  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  sin,  and  dread  of  eternal 
wrath,  this  truth  is  the  only  thing  which 
can  give  relief.  At  such  an  hour,  there  is 
a  glory  in  the  revelation,  that  "when  we 
were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us" — 
that  he  died  for  us,  the  just  for  the  un- 
just, to  bring  us  to  God.  The  victim  on 
the  cross  is   beheld    to    be    the    lamb     of 


192  CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

sacrifice.  He  suffers  what  we  should  have 
suffered.  He  bears  our  sins  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree. 

5.  Fiu  ally,  Christ  so  bore  our  sins,  as 
to  remove  from  us  all  their  penal  conse- 
quences, and  secure  our  salvation.  By  that 
suffering,  he  exhausted  the  penalty,  and 
discharged  the  debt.  His  obedience  as 
surety  was  superadded,  to  purchase  our 
title  to  life ;  but  by  his  humiliation  and 
death  upon  the  cross,  he  absolutely  cancel- 
ed all  our  guilt,  removed  us  from  being 
liable  to  any  measure  of  the  curse  of  the 
law ;  and  caused  us  to  stand,  in  the  view 
of  its  threatening  as  if  we  had  never 
sinned  at  all.  A  proper  view  of  this  is 
needful,  in  order  to  a  right  acceptance  of 
full  and  sovereign  grace.  He  who  believes 
does  in  the  very  moment  of  believing,  be- 
come one  with  Christ,  and  graciously  enti- 
tled to  all  that  Christ  has  purchased  for 
his  people.  The  death  of  Christ  is  not 
merely  a  transaction  which  makes  our  par- 
don possible,  contingent,  or  even  probable : 
it  secures  it.  It  breaks  all  the  penal  force 
of  the  law.  Whatever  chastisements,  even 
death  itself,  may  henceforth    befall  the   be- 


CHRIST  BEARING   OUR   SINS.  193 

liever,  none  of  them  can  befall  him  in  the 
character  of  punishment.  The  sanction  of 
•the  law  will  not  he  demanded  twice.  It 
has  been  accomplished  in  his  substitute;  it 
will  not  be  visited  on  him.  The  cup  of 
indignation,  which  was  mingled  and  await- 
ing us,  was  taken  into  those  blessed  hands, 
and  utterly  exhausted.  The  Law  is  there- 
fore as  fully  and  eternally  at  peace  with 
a  justified  sinner,  as  though  he  had  never 
sinned.  And  this  is  the  glad  news,  which 
first  of  all  brings  peace  to  the  soul  of  a 
convinced  penitent.  He  beholds  the  Cross, 
and  sees  how  God  can  be  just,  and  yet 
the  justifier  of  the  ungodly  that  belie veth 
in  Jesus.  The  sword  which  was  descend- 
ing upon  him,  has  turned  aside,  and  is 
bathed  in  the  heart's  blood  of  him  who 
knew  no  sin.  It  is  the  sum  and  substance 
of  the  Gospel.  Our  position  this  day  is  the 
very  one  for  viewing  this  great  transaction  ; 
for  we  are  among  its  embiems.  Christ  is 
visibly  set  forth,  crucified,  in  the  midst  of 
us.  We  are  beside  the  altar,  and  before 
us  is  the  bleeding  Lamb  of  propitiation. 
Among  the  reflections  which  befit  the  place 
.and  the  occasion,  one  or  two  may  deserve 
special  notice. 


194  CHRIST   BEARING   OCR   SINS. 

1.  When   we   behold  Christ  bearing  our 
sins,  we  should   learn   to   look    on    sin  with 
shame  and  horror.     0    sinner !    if    there   is 
an   argument   why  you   should   forsake    sin, 
it  is   that   Christ   has    died.      How    intense 
must   that   evil   be,  which    demands  such    a 
sacrifice  !     We  may  be  sure,  that  God,  who 
does  nothing  without   infinite    reason,  would 
not    consent    to    expose    his    only    begotten 
and  well-beloved   Son   to    inexpressible   tor- 
ments, if  there  had  been  any  other  way  to 
save  the  sinner.     Here,  a  full  satisfaction  is 
made   to  divine  Justice.     For  this  justice  to 
remain   unsatisfied,    were   the   same     as    for 
God  to   deny  *  himself,    that    is,    to   be   de- 
throned.     For    the    sinner    to    satisfy    this 
justice   in   his  own   person,    were    for    him 
to   endure  the   wrath   and  curse  of  God,  in 
eternity.     And    for    the    Surety    to    satisfy 
this  justice,  it   was   necessary,  that  the   Son 
of  God  should  become  man,  and  should  en- 
dure  the  curse    of    the    law,    as    we    have 
seen.     Sin  is  not  the  trifle,  which   you    sup- 
pose.    You  indulge  in  it,    and  will  not  part 
from  it ;  you   are   so   in   love    with   it,  that 
you    must    remain   in    its    embracing    arms, 
days   or   months  or  years  longer;  you  post- 


CHEIST   BEARING   OUR  SINS.  195 

pone  your  repentance — that  is  you  prolong 
your  rebellion;  and  when  Jesus  Christ 
himself  invites,  you  turn  away,  and  make 
light  of  it.  You  make  a  mock  at  sin. 
But  O  thoughtless  and  deluded  creature ! 
Know  you  not,  that  this  is  the  viper, 
which  if  indulged,  will  sting  your  soul, 
fatally  and  eternally?  and  consider  you  not 
that  it  has  already  stung  to  death,  that 
Kecleemer,  when  he  met  it  only  in  the 
way  of  substitution  ?  Admit  the  convicting 
power  of  the  Cross.  Look  on  Jesus  Christ 
bearing  sin  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree. 
Ask  your  ungrateful  heart  what  more  he 
can  do.  Shall  he  descend  once  more  ? 
Shall  he  once  more  be  a  man  of  sorrows  ? 
Shall  he  be  crucified  again  ?  Alas !  were 
he  crucified  before  your  very  eyes,  the 
hearts  which  now  resist  him,  might  resist 
him  still.  Beloved,  but  unawakened  friends, 
I  charge  you  to  consider  this  sacrament  as 
a  message  to  you,  and  as  urging  on  you 
the  love  and  compassion  of  a  dying  Sa- 
viour. 

2.  When  we  behold  Christ  bearing  our 
sins,  we  should  see  in  it  the  object  of 
saving-faith.     In   all  the  universe   of    nature 


196  CHRIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS. 

and  grace,  this,  this  is  the  point  for  the 
eye  of  a  convinced  sinner.  This  is  the 
centre.  "  Behold,"  O  condemned,  despairing 
one,  u  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  tak- 
eth  t  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  Behold 
him  bearing  your  sins,  in  his  own  body 
on  the  tree.  Behold  the  arm  of  divine 
Vengeance  punishing  in  his  person,  that 
sin  which  you  cannot  without  horror  think 
of  as  punished  in  your  own.  From  his 
cross  he  cries,  "  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye 
saved,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth."  His  eye 
singles  you  out,  as  he  dies  in  sacrifice. 
His  arms,  extended  and  bleeding,  offer  par- 
don to  you.  Not  even  in  death,  is  that 
gush  of  love  and  mercy  stanched,  which 
utters  itself  in  the  invitation,  "  Come  unto 
me  !  come  unto  me  !" — I  know  you  some- 
times feel  your  sins  as  a  heavy  mountain, 
sinking  you  to  hell ;  like  Cain,  you  are 
ready  to  cry,  "  My  punishment  is  greater 
than  I  can  bear ;"  ready  perhaps,  to  seek 
some  hiding-place,  and  even  before  the 
time  to  call  on  rocks  and  mountains  to 
cover  you.  Your  terror  and  anguish  are, 
it  may  be,  too  great  for  tears,  and  you 
have   nothing   but   a  fearful    looking-for   of 


CHEIST  BEARING   OUR   SINS.  197 

judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall 
devour  the  adversary.  And  these  convic- 
tions, though  increased  ten  thousand-fold, 
can  go  no  whit  towards  a  justifying-righte- 
ousness,  nor  do  they  make  you  any  better, 
or  any  more  fit  to  receive  the  grace  of 
God. — But  what !  (you  cry)  u  would  you 
drive  me  to  despair  !  would  you  cut  away 
the  last  thread  which  suspends  me  over 
the   lake  of  fire  !" 

Sinner  —  you  are  at  the  very  door  of 
hope  this  day. — '  But  what  would  you  have 
me  to  do  V — Nothing  :  absolutely  nothing, 
as  matter  of  Doing :  the  work  is  done ; 
and  you  behold  it,  in  that  bleeding  vic- 
tim.— '  How — O  how,  then,  am  I  to  derive 
the  benefit  of  this  obedience  of  Christ  unto 
death  V — By  simple  acquiescence.  "  Believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved."  Look  away  from  yourself. 
Cease  to  probe  that  rankling,  ulcerous,  in- 
corrigible heart.  Look  simply  and  directly 
and  instantly  at  one  object — at  Christ  bear- 
ing your  sin  in  his  own  body.  Do  you 
see  it  ?  Do  you  believe  it  ?  Do  you  ac- 
knowledge it  as  a  full  satisfaction  for  your 
sins  ?     Do   you   recognize   it   as  freely  offer- 


198  CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

ed  to  you,  on  the  pledge  and  veracity  of 
God  ?  Do  you  own  it  is  a  right,  a  good, 
a  desirable  way  %  Do  you  humble  your- 
self so  far  as  to  forsake  all  righteousness 
of  your  own  ?  Do  you  accept  of  this 
righteousness  ?  Do  you  cast  yourself  upon 
it?  Only  believe:  all  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth.  O  sinner!  O  chief 
of  sinners !  believest  thou  that  Jesus  is 
able  to  do  this  ?  See  him  crucified  to  ac- 
complish it,  and  doubt  no  more. — If  now, 
thus  beholding,  you  let  go  your  hold  on 
all  besides,  within  you  or  without  you,  and 
venture  the  whole  weight  of  your  ever- 
lasting destiny  on  his  satisfactory  death, 
and  simple  promise — if,  in  a  word,  you  be- 
lieve in  him — the  contract  is  consummated, 
and   your  sins   are  washed   away. 

3.  When  we  behold  Christ  bearing  our 
sins,  we  have  before  us  the  greatest  of  all 
motives  to  personal  holiness.  He  "  died 
for  us,  that  whether  we  wake  or  sleep,  we 
should  live  together  with  him.'1  When 
temptation  comes  in  like  a  tide,  cast  your 
eyes  to  the  Cross.  Nothing  has  such  virtue 
against  our  corruptions.  If  we  are  believ- 
ers, we   are  crucified  with  Christ:  his  inter- 


CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS.  199 

ests  are  ours ;  Ms  Spirit  is  ours.  Embrace 
not  that  which  drove  the  nails  through 
his  sacred  hands,  and  pierced  his  innocent 
and  loving  heart.  In  every  pang  and 
groan  and  tear  of  his,  and  in  every  drop 
of  his  all-precious  blood,  read  an  argument 
against  yielding  to  the  tempter.  Feel  the 
generous  power  of  the  reasoning  in  the 
context :  "  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  that  we,  be- 
ing  dead  to  sins,  should  live  unto  righte- 
ousness :  by  whose  stripes  ye  were  healed. 
For  ye  were  as  sheep  going  astray ;  but 
are  now  returned  unto  the  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  your  souls."  Sins  committed 
after  pardon,  are  sins  under  the  very  cross. 
They  are  transgressions  against  the  very 
sacrifice,  and  (if  any  thing  can)  do  crucify 
the  Lord  anew.  And  though  it  is  true 
that  we  still  sin,  and  graciously  true,  that 
if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with 
the  Father ;  yet  it  is  the  height  of  heinous 
ingratitude,  and  a  special  grieving  of  the 
Son  and  the  Spirit,  to  indulge  our  evil  na- 
ture, because  there  is  access  to  the  foun- 
tain  of   pardon.     The   detestable  nature  of 


200  CHRIST  BEARING  OUR  SINS. 

sin  is  more  apparent  in  the  cross,  than  in 
hell  itself;  and  the  renewed  mind  will 
more  readily  transgress  under  the  very 
threatening  of  torment,  than  under  the 
blood  of  a  dying  Redeemer.  This  is 
brought  most  forcibly  to  our  thoughts,  in 
the  ordinance  we  celebrate,  which  is  a  vis- 
ible epitome  of  the  doctrine  under  consid- 
eration. Here,  therefore,  beloved,  you  are 
at  the  very  place,  where  you  may  justly 
bring  forth  your  remaining  corruptions  to 
sacrifice ;  and  where  you  may  slay  them 
before  the  Lord.  The  hatred  of  his  right- 
eous soul  is  against  sin;  and  the  demon- 
stration of  this  is  in  his  dying  for  it. 
Take  part  with  your  Saviour  against  your 
sins,  and  (as  you  handle  and  receive  the 
bread  and  wine)  look  up  to  him  for 
strength  to  give  the  fatal  blow  to  those 
tempers  and  indulgences  which  are  contrary 
to  his  will.  Enter  into  the  spirit  of  this 
sacrifice,  and  you  will  prove  by  experience, 
that  the  doctrine  of  gracious  salvation  gives 
no  encouragement  to  sin.  From  the  cross, 
you  will  go  down  to  the  world,  more 
steeled    than   ever,    against  its    temptations. 


CHRIST   BEARING   OUR   SINS.  201 

A  tender  fear  of  offending  Hin  who  loved 
you  unto  death,  will  make  you  walk  cir- 
cumspectly; and  in  remembrance  of  past 
transgressions,  and  wounds  of  the  Spirit, 
you  will  offer  all  you  have  and  are,  to 
him  by  whose  stripes  you  were  healed. 


VIII. 

CHEIST'S    DEATH,  THE    CAKDINAL 
DOCTEINE. 


CHEIST'S    DEATH,  THE   CAKDINAL 
DOCTRINE. 


1  Cor.  15 :  3. 


"For  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all,  that  which  I 
also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according 
to  the  Scriptures." 

The  great  doctrine  of  Christianity 
is   that   Christ  died  for  our  sins. 

The  Apostle,  in  recounting  his  system 
states  two  doctrines,  as  "the  gospel  which 
(says  he)  I  preached  unto  you."  These 
two  doctrines  are  1.  Chrises  death,  2. 
Chrisfs  resurrection.  We  have  a  memorial 
of  each — of  the  first  in  the  Eucharist;  of 
the  second  in  the  Lord's  day.  Both  are  es- 
sential and  fundamental,  and  we  might 
(and  do)  commemorate  both  this  day:  but 
our  chief  business  is  with  that  one  which 
Paul  puts  first. — 'For  I  delivered  unto  you 
first   of   all,  how  that   Christ,  died  for    our 


206  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

sins.' — We  often  ask  how  an  Apostle  would 
have    preached:     here    we    have    the    way 
that    Paul     preached.       We    often    wonder 
what    should    be   put  first:    here   we    have 
what   Paul  put  first: — Death  and  Resurrec- 
tion.    This   is   what   he  delivered   to  them: 
and  he   calls  it  to  their  minds.     He   had  a 
reason   for   so   doin^.       After   bein^   a  mis- 
sionary    to    this    splendid    and     fashionable 
city,  the   Paris  of    Greece,  he   had  pursued 
his  itinerancy,  leaving  a  large  body  of  per- 
sons who   had   subscribed   to   the  new   reli- 
gion.    They  were    converts,  but   very   igno- 
rant half  Jewish,  or  half-Gentile.     How  could 
they   be    otherwise?       During    his    absence, 
they    fell    into     excitements,    party-divisions 
and   scandals.       It    is    a    childish    error    to 
think  the  primitive   churches  were  immacu- 
late.    Take  for   example  this  church,  where 
Paul  labored  eighteen  months  (Acts  18: 11); 
and   where   Acjuila   and  the  eloquent  Apol- 
los     seconded,     him.       Was     it    pure? — No. 
There  was   defect   of  discipline,  (ch.  5)  and 
they  were  "puffed  up,"  instead  of  removing 
the  criminal  from  them.     The  leaven  among 
them   was    bitter,  malicious   and    spreading. 
They   went    to    law   with    one    another,   in 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  207 

heathen  courts.  They  abused  their  liberty, 
by  eating  flesh  which  had  formed  part  of 
Gentile  sacrifices.  And  they  went  to  such 
excess,  in  their  public  meetings  for  worship, 
as  to  desecrate  the  Lord's  Supper,  by  eat- 
ing to  gluttony  and  drinking  to  drunken- 
ness. Amidst  these  signs  of  imperfect 
Christianity  there  was  another:  namely, 
proud  division  The  Apostle  was  gone — and 
the  glow  of  pious  love  was  gone — and  they 
were  fallen  into  parties.  Persons  from  the 
family  of  a  Christian  woman,  Chloe,  brought 
news  of  this  to  Paul.  There  were  Paul's 
party,  Peter's,  Apollos',  and  Christ's !  (2  :  12) 
Leaders  of  parties  defamed  the  absent 
apostle:  and  undermined  the  belief  of 
some.  Hence  the  earnestness  of  Paul  in 
rehearsing  what  he  had  taught,  as  in  the 
text.  "  Moreover  brethren/  I  declare  unto 
you,"  my  doctrine  and  your   creed. 

I.   The   Doctrine:     II.   Its   Importance. 

I. 

The  Doctrine.  Christ  died  eor  our 
sins. 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  go  about  to 
show  by  citation,  that  wherever  the  propa- 


208  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

gators  of  Christianity  went,  this  was  the 
doctrine  they  began  with.  And  a  strange 
beginning  it  was,  on  every  human  supposi- 
tion. What  other  religion  ever  beofan  with 
making  a  main  point  of  the  death  of  its 
founder  \  —  Suppose  we  take  the  hypothe- 
sis of  those  who  love  to  call  themselves 
liberal  and  Rational  Christians,  and  who 
make  Jesus  Christ  to  have  been  but  a 
man.  How  inexplicable  have  they  rendered 
the  gospel  story!  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a 
man  of  Palestine,  a  Jew,  is  dead.  What  a 
starting-point  .  .  .  for  a  progress  which  is  to 
revolutionize  the  world !  True,  he  has 
died:  but  this  is  common,  is  universal,  is 
human.  To  die — is  the  doom  of  man.  Of 
all  the  millions  (two  only  excepted  so  far 
as  we  know)  every  individual  has  died. 
No  peculiarities  in  the  manner  of  dying, 
will  remove  this  difficulty.  Make  it  as 
painful,  shameful,  and  cruel  as  you  may — 
it  is  still  but  the  death  of  a  mortal  crea- 
ture. You  have  your  answer  however  in 
reserve:  L Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  an  inno- 
cent, and  holy  man,  and  he  was  a  teacher 
and  prophet,  and  martyr.'  True,  and  this 
adds  immense  sympathy  and  interest  to  the 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  209 

event;  but  does  not  render  it  unique,  or 
in  any  way  explain  why  the  fact  should 
become  the  great  fact.  Innocent  and  holy 
men  have  died;  and  prophets  have  died. 
All  the  prophets,  but  two,  died.  Thousands 
of  blessed  teachers  have  died.  The  name 
of  martyr,  given  to  myriads,  was  given  to 
them  because  they  died,  as  witnesses.  Isaiah 
and  Zacharias  died,  and  died  by  violence. 
Apostles  and  their  successors  have  been  put 
to  cruel  deaths.  The  case  has  been  made 
common,  by  the  prevalence  of  courageous 
faith.  But  none  of  these  have  acquired 
such  a  prominence ;  and  if  we  make  the 
death  of  Christ  nothing  more,  we  subject 
the  language  and  conduct  of  his  early  fol- 
lowers to  a  charge  of  fanatical  exaggera- 
tion and  enthusiastic  phrensy.  "Why  then 
is  so  much  stress  laid  on  this  first  fact  of 
Christianity,  that  is  that  Christ  died? 
Shall  we  say  it  is  because  he  died  to  at- 
test the  truth  of  his  teaching?  It  does 
indeed  attest  the  sincerity  of  his  belief; 
but  others  have  given  the  same  attestation ; 
and  other  things  give  far  greater  attesta- 
tion to  the  truth,  than  his  death,  if  this 
be  viewed   only  as  the  death   of  the  great- 


210  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 


est  of  martyrs.  There  is  no  sentence  iu 
the  Book  which  holds  np  Christ's  death 
in  this  light.  Often  as  it  is  mentioned,  it 
is  never  cited  as  the  foundation  of  the 
proof.  For  any  such  end,  every  miracle 
was  more  valid,  and.  above  all  was  the 
other  great  fact — the  Resurrection  abun- 
dantly more  cogent.  The  true  answer  is, 
that  Christ  died  for  our  sins — -for  our  sins. 
At  this  point  again  we  find  the  corrupters 
of  Scripture  plying  all  their  means,  and 
tasking  all  their  artifice,  to  show  some  way 
in  which  Christ  may  be  said  to  have 
"died  for  our  sins,"  in  consistency  with  a 
Deistical  view  of  the  great  event.  They 
tell  us,  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  inasmuch 
as  he  died  by  sinful  means — or  as  he  died 
to  turn  us  away  from  sin — or  as  he  would 
not  have  died,  unless  we  had  been  sinners. 
But  how  frigid  is  this — and  how  deroga- 
tory to  the  glow  and  grandeur  of  the  lan- 
guage in  which  this  one  event  is  singled 
out  to  be  revealed  !  Others — many  others 
have  so  died — every  teacher  of  great  moral 
truths  has  so  died — especially  every  sted- 
fast  upholder  of  truth  under  deadly  perse- 
cution  has    so  died.       But   Christ   died   for 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  211 


our  sins  in  a  new,  singular,  and  sublime 
sense ;  not  merely  for  men  and  for  sin- 
ners, but  for  their  sins.  This  is  explained 
by  diversity  of  phrase  in  other  places.  He 
bare  our  sins — he  was  made  sin  for  us — 
he  was  made  a  curse  for  us — he  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins — he  died  the  just 
for  the  unjust — he  redeemed  us  by  his 
blood — his  blood  cleanses  from  sin — it  is 
shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins — 
he  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for  many— he 
gave  his  life  for  the  sheep. — Try  the  di- 
minishing and  reducing  process  on  these 
expressions:  torture  them  to  mean  no  more 
than  the  innocent  self-immolation  of  a  wit- 
ness or  a  prophet:  and  you  shall  find 
yourself  descending  to  a  violent  perversion 
which  would  be  scorned  and  banished,  in 
any  interpretation  of  any  other  document 
of  mankind.  Come  bravely  up  to  the  book ; 
and  either  reject  it  outright  with  the  frank- 
ness of  unbelief;  or,  receiving  it  as  true 
and  authoritative,  admit  it  in  that  obvious 
and  inevitable  signification,  without  which 
it  palters  in  a  double  sense,  and  is  unwor- 
thy of  rational  credence.  If  this  New  Tes- 
tament is  not  a  stupendous  imposture,  or  a 


212  Christ's  death:,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

childish  dream,  then  Christ  died  for  our 
sins,  in  a  sense  in  which  no  martyr,  no 
prophet,  no   human  being  ever  died. 

Those  who  were  addressed  and  reasoned 
with  by  the  early  preachers  on  the  basis 
of  the  Old  Testament  (and  these  were  a 
majority  of  the  first  Christians)  were  pre- 
pared to  expect  an  instance  of  peculiar 
and  bloody  death.  This  expectation  had 
come  down  from  the  first  altar — from  Abel 
— from  the  blood  of  animals — from  the  per- 
petual oblation  —  and  from  the  passover- 
lamb.  It  had  been  increased  by  the  voice 
of  Hebrew  prophecy,  waxing  louder  and 
louder,  as  the  national  church  grew  feebler, 
and  as  the  fulness  of  time  came  on.  That 
Anointed  One,  the  Desire  of  all  nations — 
was  read  of,  An  every  synagogue,  for  cen- 
turies, as  a  suffering  and  dying  personage 
— to  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself — to  be 
smitten  with  the  sword  —  stricken,  smitten 
of  God  and  afflicted  —  as  one  on  whom 
God  should  lay  the  iniquity  of  us  all — • 
brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter  —  cut 
off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living — stricken 
for  the  transgression  of  the  people  —  as 
One   bruised    and   put   to   grief  by  God  — 


christs  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  213 

making  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin  —  bear- 
ing iniquities — numbered  among  transgress- 
ors— and  pouring  out  his  soul  unto  death. 
These  were  familiar  words  to  the  Hebrew: 
they  had  been  familiar  for  seven  hundred 
years :  and  concurring  with  the  emblematic 
diction  of  holy  rites,  they  engendered  an 
expectation  of  death,  and  of  death  for  sin, 
and  in  the  room  of  the  sinner.  Every 
morning  and  evening  lamb  prepared  the 
way  for  the  proclamation  of  the  Forerun- 
ner— Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  tak- 
eth  away  the   sin   of  the  world ! 

"When  therefore  Paul  and  his  fellows 
announced  that  the  Messiah  had  come,  and 
had  come  to  die,  they  announced  no  new 
thing;  and  when  they  added  he  died  for 
our  sins,  they  had  not  an  intelligent  hearer 
in  Jerusalem  or  Corinth,  who  did  not  un- 
derstand them  to  say  (whether  he  believed 
or  not)  that  this  same  Jesus  had  died  as 
a   sacrifice   for   sin. 

They  addressed  themselves  to  sinners, 
and  called  them,  as  such,  to  repent;  and 
it  was  to  this  character  that  they  declared 
Christ,  as  dying,  to  be  suited  and  welcome. 
Converts  gathered   to  them  —  not   as  eager 


214  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

learners,  simply  seeking  a  new  scheme  of 
truth,  rendered  more  tender  and  moving 
by  reason  of  the  teacher's  martyrdom ;  but 
as  polluted  creatures  in  peril  of  guilt, 
agonized  about  the  way  of  escape  from  a 
sentence  which  conscience  told  them  was 
certain,  imminent,  and  deserved.  It  is  time 
for  us  to  look  at  the  plain  truth :  He 
who  with  this  bible  in  his  hand,  would 
tear  from  it  the  piacular  death  of  a  di- 
vine Redeemer,  as  a  substitute,  and  a  sacri- 
fice for  sin — trifles  with  its  serious  language 
— turns  its  transports  into  fustian — and  its 
praises  into  inane  hyperbole — unravels  the 
very  warp  of  the  texture — and  drains  away 
the  vital  fluid  from  vein,  artery,  and  heart. 
Be  it  true  or  be  it  false,  it  contains  in 
letters  of  crimson,  on  every  page,  this  sig- 
nificant and  inseparable  characteristic,  that 
Christ  died  for  our  sins.  Of  all  its  ob- 
jects, that  which  stands  in  high  relief  is 
the  Cross.  Of  all  its  syllables,  the  most 
sacred  is  blood.  Of  all  that  is  rehearsed 
concerning  Messiah,  the  memorable  part  is, 
that  he  laid  down  his  life.  Of  all  its  or- 
dinances, the  most  striking  is  that  whicli 
commemorates    a    body   broken    and   blood 


cueist's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  215 

poured    out.      It    is    the   grand    distinction 
of  the  book :  it   is  the  essence    of  the   gos- 
pel.    The   grand   truth   of  a  dying  Messiah 
is  the  burden  of  Jewish   prophecy ;  modern 
Jews,  Mohammedans    and   Infidels  reject   it. 
The   two  last  do   this  with   less   embarrass- 
ment,   because  they  are    not    troubled    with 
the   book    of  inspiration:   the  Israelites  are 
more  perplexed,  because  every  part  of  their 
own   Scriptures   testifies  against   them.     But 
most   to  be   pitied   of    all    are   those    nomi- 
nal   Christians,    who    have    not     gone     far 
enough  in  the  liberal  school  to  account  the 
New    Testament     a    mythology,     but     who 
nevertheless   wink    hard   to   avoid   seeing-   a 
divine   Atonement.     It  is  like  ignoring   the 
sun  in  the   heavens.     That  Christ  died,  and 
in   no    insignificant   sense,     yea    in    such    a 
sense  as  to  bring  it  home  to  every  reader's 
heart,    is   the    assertion    which    more   than 
all   others    recurs    in    the    Christian   Scrip- 
tures.    And    it    is  just    as   interesting  now, 
to   us,   and  to   thousands,  as   it   was    eight- 
een  centuries   ago,  to    the  disciples.     Christ 
died   for   our  sins.      Being    God    and    man, 
in  two   natures,  but  one  person,    as    media- 
tor, he   freely  offered   himself,  by  his    inno- 


216  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 


cent  blooclshe elding,  and  cruel  ignominious 
death,  to  be  a  sacrifice  of  expiation,  in  the 
place  of  sinful  men ;  and  by  this  act  and 
this  suffering,  in  our  stead,  and  as  our 
constituted  surety,  sponsor,  trustee,  repre- 
sentative, and  Head,  he  did  place  himself 
under  the  law,  as  we  were  under  the  law ; 
and  bore  its  curse  and  pain  and  we  should 
have  borne  its  curse  and  pain.  By  this 
death,  which  was  the  penalty  of  the  law  ; 
he  fully  and  infinitely  satisfied  God's  jus- 
tice ;  by  reason  of  the  infinite  dignity  and 
value  (conferred  on  pangs  which  were  lim- 
ited as  to  time)  derived  from  his  godhead. 
By  this  vicarious  death,  Christ  exhausted 
the  punishment — drank  up  the  cup  of  ven- 
geance— expunged  the  debt — washed  away 
the  guilt  —  and  opened  heaven  to  all  be- 
lievers. By  this  death,  for  our  sins,  there 
is  a  pardon  offered,  on  terms  of  absolute 
gratuity.  On  the  part  of  the  recipient  as 
to  merit  or  legal  condition  the  requirement 
is  nothing.  We  mean  this  by  a  free  gos- 
pel, and  we  mean  nothing  less  than  this. 
It  is  a  free  pardon  and  absolute  remission 
of  the  debt ;  and  the  belief  of  this  free 
grace,   in    its    true    divine    fulness,  is    faith. 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  217 


This  is  saving  faith.  Christ  died  for  our 
sins,  as  a  fruit  of  infinite  love  on  the  part 
of  the  Father.  It  is  heathenish,  it  is  blas- 
phemous, to  represent  the  adorable  Father 
as  a  reluctant  Despot,  appeased  by  his 
kinder  Son.  God  the  Father  is  the  foun- 
tain of  Deity,  and  the  fountain  of  grace. 
Before  there  were  any  worlds  this  Lamb 
was  slain  in  decree.  He  planned  the 
scheme  of  mercy  and  gave  his  Son  to  be 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  Father,  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  One  Jehovah,  is 
the  God  into  whose  name  we  are  bap- 
tized ;  and  to  this  indivisible  Unity  of  the 
Godhead,  we  owe  our  whole  salvation. 
When  Jesus  Christ  died  upon  the  cross  at 
Golgotha,  it  was  not  God  who  died ;  as  a 
matter  of  dissolution  and  suffering — but  the 
humanity  which  died  was  exalted  by  the 
united  deity,  and  hence  the  acts  and  func- 
tions of  one  nature  are  in  common  lan- 
guage ascribed  to  the  other.  More  pro- 
perly however  all  atoning  acts  are  ascribed 
to  the  whole  mediatorial  person — the  Mes- 
siah — "  Christ  died  for  our  sins."  That 
event,  to  which  all  the  old  world  looks 
forward,  and  to  which  all  the  new  and 
10 


218  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

greater  world  looks  back,  is  the  very  cause 
of  our  redemption ;  and  the  fact  which  we 
celebrate  this  day. 

II. 

The  Importance  of  the  Doctrine  that 
Christ  died  for  our  sins :  the  place  which 
it  occupies  in  the  Christian  system :  in 
other  words,  why  did  the  Apostle  Paul 
make  it  the  very  beginning  of  his  preach- 
ing ?  "  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all 
that  which  I  also  received,  how  that 
Christ  died  for  our  sins."  Why  this  pro- 
minence, and  why  did  he  so  earnestly  place 
this  singular  doctrine  in  the  forefront? 
Now  really  the  answers  to  this  question 
must  be  as  numerous,  as  the  topic  is  vast ; 
but  a  few,  most  briefly  given,  must  suffice. 
Paul  began   with  this: 

1.  Because  it  was  most  struck  at  by 
enemies.  Though  not  a  blind  zealot  who 
courted  opposition,  and  though  he  knew 
(no  man  better)  how  to  become  all  things 
to  all  men ;  he  was  no  trimmer ;  and  when 
any  known  doctrine  of  his  master  was  im- 
pugned, that  was  the  doctrine  to  which 
he  devoted  himself   in  affectionate    defence. 


chkist's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  219 

The    crucified  Nazarene   was    maligned    by 
Jews,  and  a  laughing-stock   to    Greeks  and 
Komans:    a  stumbling-stone,  over  which    Is- 
raelites    (looking*  for    a    temporal    prince) 
blundered   and   fell  into    disbelief.      It    was 
an    unphilosophic    crudity,    to    the    learned 
Athenian,    into   which   he  would   not  deign 
to  look.     This    was    that    "  offence    of   the 
Cross,"    of  which  he   speaks.      This    caused 
the  Pharisee    and   Sadducee   alike  to    abhor 
a  religion  which  instead   of  gratifying  their 
insane  national   pride   by  exalting  the   dyn- 
asty  of    David,    showed     them    a    seeming 
malefactor  dying  on  worse  than   scaffold  or 
gallows  by  a  gentile  punishment   under  this 
inscription   in   Hebrew  Greek   and   Latin  — 
Jesus   of  Nazareth   the    King   of  the   Jews. 
This   made   Epicureans,  Academics  and  Sto- 
ics   to   wrap    about     them    the    philosophic 
'mantle    with    renewed    contempt.      It    was 
the   relating  of  this  event,  ("the  preaching 
of  the  Cross")    which    was   to   the   Jews   a 
stumbling-block  and  to  the    Greeks   foolish* 
ness — and  therefore  it  was  this  which  Paul 
the    converted    Pharisee,    Paul   the    Roman 
citizen,  Paul  the   Grecian   scholar,  bound  to 
him   as   a   decoration  and   a  glory.     'I    am 


220  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  that 
are  at  Rome  also :  for  I  am  not  ashamed 
of  the   gospel  of    Christ.' 

2.  Because   it   is  the  distinguishing    doc- 
trine    of     Christianity.       This    separates     it 
from    all    other    systems.      In     Christianity 
there    are   many  things   common   to  it  with 
Judaism,     Mohammedism,     and    even     pure 
Theism ;    but    here    is    a    characteristic :    a 
discriminative  mark :    a  criterion  :    the  penal 
death  of  its   divine   founder.     The    doctrine 
was  indeed  in  Judaism,  but  it  was  a  "foun- 
tain  sealed :"  in  Christianity  it   is  a    "  foun- 
tain  opened    for    sin   and    for   uncleanness." 
It    has    flowed    from    the    Cross    over    all 
Christendom ;    and   even    the    worst   corrup- 
tions  of    the    Romish,  Greek,  and    Oriental 
churches     have    not     entirely    removed    the 
sacrifice   of     Christ     from     its     prominence. 
And   this    is    the    more    remarkable,   when 
we   consider   that    no    truth  in    the   system 
is  more  repugnant  to  human  taste  and   self- 
reliance. 

3.  Because  it  brings  men  down  to  the 
earth,  in  a  sense  of  sin,  weakness,  shame, 
and  danger.  The  gospel  is  a  remedy.  It 
seeks,  not   to    improve    what   is   sound,   but 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  221 

to    cure   what    is   dying.      It    is    a    remedy 
which  none   accept  but  such   as   desj>air   of 
other  help.     Christ  comes  to  the   incurable. 
All   who  ever  received  the  doctrine,  in  an- 
cient  or   modern  clays,    received  it  on  their 
knees,    or   prostrate    on   the   ground.     John 
the     Baptist    prepared   the   furrows   by  his 
rugged  plow  of  denunciation;  and  the  early 
seed-corn    was    steeped    in    tears  of    sorrow. 
Every    true     believer    comes    to    take    life, 
freely  offered,  without  his  meritorious  inter- 
vention, from   the   hands .  of    One  who  dies 
the    "just  for  the    unjust."     He    that    hum- 
bleth   himself    shall    be    exalted.      He    that 
becomes    an    infant,    enters     this    kingdom. 
And   so   true  a   test    is    this    doctrine,  that 
thousands  believe  not,  and  are    damned. 

4.  Because  it  is  of  all  doctrines,  that 
which  lies  nearest  the  heart  of  Christian 
affection.  It  was  uppermost  in  the  heart 
of  Paul;  it  throbbed  in  its  inmost  pulses. 
It  reminds  him  of  what  he  was:  it  makes 
him  ,  what  he  is.  "  God  forbid  that  I 
should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  cruci- 
fied unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world." 
u  Who    loved    me,     and    gave    himself   for 


222  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

me."  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners  even  the  chief!"  He-  has 
believed,  and  therefore  has  he  spoken.  Out 
of  the  abundance  of  the  heart,  the  mouth 
of  Paul  preached  Christ's  death.  It 
was  burnt  into  his  very  person,  branding 
him  as  the  servant  of  Christ,  and  no  lon- 
ger subject  to  others:  "Henceforth  let  no 
man  trouble  me :  for  I  bear  in  my  body 
the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  If  he 
preached  it  at  all,  he  must  preach  it  first 
of  all ;  and  if  he  added  any  thing  to  the 
declaration  that  his  beloved  Lord  had  died 
—  it  must  be  that  he  "  dieth  no  more," 
that  he  rose  again  —  that  he  ascended  — 
that   he   will  reim   forever. 

5.  Because  it  is  the  precise  object  of 
saving  faith.  To  be  saved  is  the  one  thing 
needful,  the  one  thing  for  which  we  need 
a  gospel.  But  to  be  saved,  one  thing  is 
necessary — faith.  Faith  is  belief;  and  the 
anxious  query  is — belief  of  what  ? — Answer : 
belief  of  this  doctrine.  He  believes  God 
propitiated.  There  are  various  expressions 
for  the  object  of  faith ;  but  all  come  to 
this:  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Mes- 
siah—  that  he  is   come   in  the   flesh  —  that 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  223 

he  is  the  Son  of  God — all  are  sumraed  up 
in  this.  The  man  who  believes  this  with 
a  spiritual  apprehension  of  what  he  be- 
lieves, is  a  saved  man.  He  is,  in  that  very 
act,  a  justified  person.  In  view  of  law,  his 
sins  are  obliterated.  In  that  instant,  he  is 
reconciled  to  God.  Justice  lifts  up  the 
sinner,  and  finds  him  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  edge  of 
the  flaming  sword  finds  no  spot  not  cover- 
ed by  a  blood  which  it  dares  not  pene- 
trate a  second  time.  At  this  juncture,  and 
in  all  coming  time,  the  one,  distinct,  at- 
tractive, guiding  north-star  of  the  voyaging 
tempest-beaten  soul  is  Christ  dying  for 
his  sins.  His  one  description  is,  that  he  is 
looking  unto  Jesus.  In  his  conversion,  he 
is  converted  to  this.  In  his  life,  he  lives 
by  this.  In  trials,  in  sacraments,  and  in 
the  agony  of  his  own  dying,  he  remem- 
bers this   one   thing,   that  Christ  has  died. 

6.  Because  it  is  the  key  to  all  other 
doctrines.  Every  system  has  its  leading 
thread  and  clew.  Christ's  sacrificial  death 
is  such  to  Christianity,  hence  the  symbol 
of  Christianity  is  not  the  all-seeing  eye — 
the  creative  hand — the  sepulchre — the  seep- 


224  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

tre — but  the  Cross.  With  this,  you  can 
explain  all;  but  (as  history  shows)  denying 
this,  you  go  on  till  to  be  consistent  you 
must  deny  all.  Reject  a  divine  Atonement, 
and  what  confusion  and  redoubled  darkness 
have  you  brought  over  all  other  members 
of  the  scheme?  How  can  you  any  longer 
indicate  ages  of  bloody  sacrifice  ?  how  can 
you  account  for  the  incarnation?  how  can 
you  respect  the  groans  of  Gethsemane,  so 
unlike  the  endurance  of  rnartys?  how  can 
you  claim  regard  for  the  vehement  lan- 
guage of  apostles  and  evangelists  ?  How 
can  you  press  the  importance  of  faith? 
how  can  you  sever  Christianity  from  other 
philosophies  ?  How  can  you  cling  to  In- 
spiration? How  can  you  celebrate  this  or- 
dinance? All  these,  in  fact,  one  by  one, 
are  detached  and  exploded,  till  the  ex- 
tremes of  liberal  or  rational  Christianity 
concur  with  the  frontiers  of  Deism;  and 
Socinians  glory  that  the  offence  of  the 
Cross  has  ceased,  and  Infidel  Moslem  and 
Jew  have  their  chief  objections  removed. 
So  they  have;  and  if  we  will  go  one  step, 
and  reject  the  being  of  God,  our  catholic 
embrace   may  take    the  Atheist  within   the 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  225 

pale  of  a  church  without  mysteries,  with- 
out revelation,  and  without  Christ.  But  the 
stone  which  the  builders  rejected  has  be- 
come the  head  of  the  corner;  and  this 
single  truth  is  the  focal  point  in  which  all 
lines  converge,  and  from  which  there  is  a  dis- 
tinct vision  of  a  symmetrical  plan.  The 
key  of  theology  is  the  proposition  that 
Christ  died  for   our   sins. 

7.  Because  it  is  the  great  instrument  of 
conversion.  If  one  had  taken  his  stand  at 
the  foot  of  the  tree,  when  they  were  tak- 
ing down  the  stark  cold  body  of  the  Re- 
deemer from  between  the  mangled  corpses 
of  the  malefactors,  and  had  looked  for- 
ward, he  would  have  exclaimed,  'All  hope 
of  propagating  his  religion  is  over!  if 
there  were  nothing  else  —  this  scene  of 
matchless  discomfiture  and  shame  seals  the 
ruin  of  the  system.'  Yet  this,  this  is  the 
very  event  the  recital  of  which  (before  the 
end  of  the  generation  then  born)  filled 
the  Eoman  empire  with  proselytes.  And 
this  not  incidentally,  not  in  spite  of  this 
encumbrance,  but  through  this  doctrine,  and 
by  its  very  means.  Wherever  Christianity 
has  advanced,  and  its  progress  this  mo- 
10* 


226  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

rnent  is  gigantic,  it  has  penetrated  the 
heart  of  warrior,  savage  and  voluptuary,  of 
philosopher,  misanthrope,  and  scholar,  of 
the  Eornan,  the  Frank,  the  Goth,  the  Hin- 
doo, the  Polynesian,  the  slave — in  and  by 
the  representation  of  Christ's  dying  for  our 
sins.  This  it  is,  which  has  pierced  through 
the  tenfold  mail  of  Academic  doubt  and 
Eabbinical  conceit  and  prejudice.  And  to 
this,  we  who  sit  here,  own  ourselves,  in 
humble,  melting  subjection  to  have  yielded. 
For  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
to  every  one  that  believeth;  to  the  Jew 
first  and  also  to  the  Greek.  And  in  per- 
suasion of  this,  Paul  preached  it,  and 
preached  it  first  of  all. 

— If  then  the  relative  place  of  the  doc- 
trine is  fixed  by  its  being  assailed — by  its 
being  characteristic  of  Christianity — by  its 
power  to  humble — by  its  power  to  melt 
the  affection — by  its  power  to  save,  as  the 
very  object  of  faith — and  by  its  power  to 
reform  the  world;  then  we  may  hasten  to 
a  conclusion,  in  the  way  of  inference:  since 
we  have  shown,  (1)  what  the  doctrine  is, 
and  (2)  what  is  the  importance  of  the  doc- 
trine.— These  things  enable  us  to  come  to 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  227 

a  judgment  with  regard  to  churches  and 
religious  communities;  and  the  criterion 
suggested  is  the  relative  place  which  they 
give  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  death.  In 
apostolical  communions  it  was  obvious, 
prominent,  and  far  above  all  mistake  or 
doubt.  There  it  stood,  bold  and  undenia- 
ble, not  only  the  main  thing,  but  pervading 
every  part.  A  company  of  disciples,  among 
whom  high  thoughts  of  the  cross  and  the 
Redeemer  were  not  common,  was  without 
example  in  that  day.  Among  their  faults, 
that  of  throwing  the  principal  figure  into 
the  back-ground  was  not  one.  Beware  my 
brethren  of  connexion  even  occasional  with 
societies  which  sacrifice  the  great  fact  of 
our  religion  to  a  pretended  Charity.  A 
heart  touched  with  genuine  love,  will  never 
feel  at  home  in  services  where  the  divinity 
of  Christ  and  his  vicarious  death  are  only 
whispered  in  elegant  generalities,  or  perhaps 
sunk  in  deceitful  silence.  Be  afraid  of 
those  circles  however  tasteful  and  liberal, 
where  this  truth  is  treated  as  a  mystery 
too  dangerous  to  handle,  or  where  you  are 
invited  to  find  relief  to  your  souls  without 
a  propitiation. 


228  Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine. 

In  like  manner,  we  may  judge  of 
books,  preaching,  and  systems  of  theology. 
Try  them  by  this  question:  What  think 
ye  of  Christ?  And  if  they  speak  double 
phrases,  if  they  hesitate,  if  they  falter,  if 
they  resolve  atonement  into  symbol  and 
metaphor,  if  they  leave  yon  in  doubt  as  to 
what  they  mean,  if  they  suffer  you  to  for- 
get the  blood  of  the  cross,  while  they  are 
large  on  law,  obligation,  good  works,  the 
beauty  of  virtue,  the  excellency  of  man,  the 
perfectibility  of  the  species,  and  the  mercy 
of  God  to  the  finally  impenitent — bid  them 
not  God  speed,  and  receive  them  not  into 
your  houses.  If  you  would  know  the  camp 
of  an  enemy  from  that  of  a  friend,  see 
well  to  it,  that  the  standard  of  the  text 
floats  conspicuously.  For  there  are  many 
Antichrists,  and  Satan  changes  himself  into 
an  angel  of  light.  "Take  heed  what  ye 
hear,"  and  expose  not  yourselves  and  your 
children  to  the  guardianship  of  wolves  in 
sheep's  clothing.  It  is  Christ  our  dying 
Surety,  that  is  the  sum  and  substance  of 
the   gospel. 

Finally,  we  may  here  judge  of  our 
own  personal  religion.     Let  it  be  tried  by 


Christ's  death,  the  cardinal  doctrine.  229 


the  New  Testament.  Take  this  volume,  and 
carefully  observe  what  place  is  occupied  in 
it  by  the  name  of  Christ ;  and  what  de- 
gree of  prominency  is  given  to  his  death. 
Then  apply  the  rule  to  the  heart,  and  ex- 
amine whether  the  same  place  and  the 
same  prominency  are  yielded  to  the  suffer- 
ing Lord  in  your  own  experience.  Is  Jesus 
Christ  a  dim,  distant  light,  glimmering 
through  clouds  in  the  horizon  of  your 
thoughts;  or  does  he  rise  upon  your  heaven 
like  the  sun  in  his  strength,  and  fill  the 
field  of  vision  with  his  soft  effulgence?  So 
far  as  you  are  conscious  of  defect  earnestly 
seek  amendment,  by  contemplation  of  an 
atoning  Saviour.  Aid  your  faith  by  the 
word,  and  the  sacrament.  Consider  that 
this  one  fact  is  perpetuated  by  a  holy  or- 
dinance ;  and  look  on  the  body  broken 
and  the  blood  shed,  as  the  gospel  in  a 
sensible  form.  Behold  him — behold  him  al- 
ways— 'Him  first,  him  last,  him  midst,  and 
without  end ! '  Then  when  your  time 
comes,  you  shall  say  as  dying  men  have 
said,  'None  but   Christ — none   but  Christ!' 


IX. 

COMMUNION   IN    CHRIST'S    BODY 
AND   BLOOD. 


COMMUNION    IN    CHEIST'S    BODY 
AND    BLOOD. 


1  Corinthians  10:  16. 

"The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the 
communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The  bread  which  we 
break,  is   it  not  the   communion  of   the  body  of  Christ?" 

Theee  is  no  part  of  the  Scriptures,  in 
which  we  have  so  much  concerning  the 
actual  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as 
in  this  letter  of  Paul  to  the  converts  at 
Corinth.  Nor  is  there  any  congregation  of 
primitive  days,  about  which  we  learn  so 
many  details,  as  this  very  church.  "We  are 
admitted  to  see  the  good  and  the  evil  of 
their  character.  The  glimpse  thus  afforded 
is  useful,  in  correcting  that  exaggerated  es- 
timate which  superstition  forms,  concerning 
the  knowledge  and  purity  of  apostolical 
churches.       We    see    that  there  were   tares 


234   COMMUNION  IN"   CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

among  the  wheat;  and  that  Corinthian 
human  nature,  even  under  the  very  chiefest 
of  the  apostles,  was  human  nature  still. 
We  see  that  those  who  sat  down  at  the 
table  of  Christ,  were  no  more  then,  than 
they  are  now,  unblemished  characters.  "We 
perceive  the  society  rent  by  factions,  under 
the  several  watchwords  of  Paul,  Apollos, 
Cephas,  and  even  Christ.  We  observe  them 
going  to  law,  against  brethren,  before  hea- 
then courts;  retaining  among  them  volup- 
tuous professors;  rashly  sitting  down  at 
idolatrous  banquets;  breaking  forth  into 
gross  indecorum  and  confusion  in  assem- 
blies; and  almost  ready  to  forsake  the 
apostle,  and  go  after  false  teachers.  But 
the  most  painful  and  mortifying  revelation 
which  is  made,  of  their  internal  condition, 
relates  to  their  desecration  of  this  holy 
table.  So  far  had  corruption  made  head 
among  them,  that  they  turned  the  Lord's 
Supper  into  a  common  feast,  and  one  was 
hungry  and  another  drunken  (11:21).  As 
if  they  had  had  no  houses  to  eat  and 
drink  in,  they  ate  and  drank  to  repletion 
in  the  house  of  God,  and  shamed  the  poor, 
to   whom    nothing   was    remaining,    (v.  23) 


COMMUNION   IN   CHEIST'S   BODY  AND   BLOOD.   235 

Distressing  as  such  facts  are,  they  are  never- 
theless instructive ;  for  they  teach  us,  that 
a  communion  of  absolute  purity,  is  not  to 
be  found,  even  in  primitive  Christianity; 
and  they  warn  us,  to  take  our  standard, 
not  from  the  practice  of  the  most  favored 
churches,  but  from  the  precept  of  the  Lord 
Jesus. 

Knowing  the  great  temptations  to  which 
those  were  subject,  who  had  but  lately 
come  out  of  a  licentious  Gentilism,  and 
who  were  still  surrounded  by  the  provoca- 
tives of  that  soft,  insidious  system,  embod- 
ied in  every  sensible  grace  of  architecture, 
sculpture,  painting,  music,  and  poetry ;  know- 
ing too,  the  dimness  of  the  bounding  line, 
which  in  many  cases  separated  Christian 
liberty  from  worldly  compliance,  the  apostle 
Paul  enlarges,  with  earnestness,  on  the  duty 
of  coming  out  boldly  from  the  world.  In 
respect,  for  example,  to  dainties  which  had 
been  offered  to  idols,  and  which  it  was  the 
fashion  of  the  day  to  set  before  guests — 
he  admits  8 :  4  that  '  an  idol  is  nothing' — 
the  image  of  a  non-entity — that  the  Jove, 
the  Venus,  and  the  Mars,  of  their  statuary, 
never   existed    but    in    the    imagination    of 


236   COMMUNION   IN  CHEIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

superstition  and  art — and  that  food  how- 
ever consecrated  to  these  chimeras,  could 
derive  from  the  ceremony  no  intrinsic  pol- 
lution. Nevertheless,  on  a  principle  of 
Christian  charity,  he  instructs  them  not  to 
touch  this  food,  in  cases  where  it  might 
be  construed  into  a  recognition  of  the  false 
god.  8:9  "  Take  heed,  lest  this  liberty  of 
yours  become  a  stumbling  block  to  them 
that  are  weak."  He  urges  on  them  (c.  10) 
the  high  duty  of  being  all  for  Christ,  and 
of  making  a  broad  separation  between 
themselves  and  the  world.  And  he  en- 
forces this  by  what  may  be  called  a  sacra- 
mental reason,  v.  21  "Ye  cannot  drink 
the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the  cup  of  de- 
vils; ye  cannot  be  partakers  of  the  Lord's 
table,  and  of  the  table  of  devils."  It  is 
with  this  precise  intention,  and  with  no 
other,  that  Paul  introduces  the  words  of 
my  text.  They  are  often  cited  with  another 
meaning;  and  taken  by  themselves  they 
carry  another;  but  this  is  their  significa. 
tion  in  the  apostle's  train  of  thought. — 
Look  carefully  at  the  opening  of  this  tenth 
chapter.  You  will  find  him  arguing  from 
the    Jewish    sacraments,  which   were    types 


COMMUNION   IN    CHRIST'S  BODY  AND   BLOOD.    237 

of  ours;  from  the  Jewish  communion  in 
these  sacraments,  which  was  a  type  of  our 
communion ;  from  their  sins  against  this 
profession,  which  are  figures  of  our  sins; 
and  from  their  punishment,  which  prefig- 
ured our  punishment.  These  ancients  (says 
he)  had  their  sacraments.  Is  it  baptism? 
They  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses,  in  the 
cloud  and  in  the  sea,  hovering  over  them, 
sprinkling  them,  and  flowing  about  them. 
Is  it  the  sacred  table?  They  did  all  eat 
the  same  spiritual  meat  (manna)  and  did 
all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink  (the 
Rock).  They  sinned  and  fell,  at  least 
twenty-three  thousand  in  one  day:  they 
were  destroyed  of  serpents.  You  are  your- 
selves liable  to  temptation.  It  is  the  hu- 
man lot.  v.  13  It  is  'common  to  man.' 
Your  present  temptation  is  the  surrounding 
idolatry  of  licentious  Corinth — (it  was  the 
Paris  of  ancient  luxury).  You  are  prompt- 
ed by  every  social  feeling,  by  every  linger- 
ing habit,  by  the  seductions  of  sense  and 
the  blandishments  of  taste,  to  go  into  com- 
munion with  the  Gentile  world.  I  warn 
you  against  such  fellowship),  and  I  warn 
you    by   all    the   sacredness   of    that   other, 


238   COMMUNION   IN   CHRIST'S   BODY  AND   BLOOD. 

higher  fellowship,  in  YvThich  you  are  em- 
braced. I  speak  as  to  wise  men ;  judge 
ye  what  I  say.  The  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
blood  of  Christ?  the  bread  which  we 
break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body 
of  Christ?' — Such  is  the  process  of  thought 
by  which  the  apostle  is  led  to  the  words 
on  which  we  meditate ;  and  it  affords  the 
just  clew  to  their  meaning  and  their  ap- 
plication. Let  us  enter  upon  this  inquiry. 
The  cases  are  few,  in  which  any  single 
word  in  one  language,  precisely  answers  to 
any  single  word  in  another  language:  of 
this  none  are  so  well  convinced  as  accom- 
plished philologists.  Between  an  ancient 
and  a  modern  tongue,  the  discrepance  must 
of  necessity  be  more  wide.  The  remark 
applies  to  the  word  communion,  in  the 
text.  It  includes  the  idea  of  participation, 
of  fellowship,  of  joint-reception.  The  "com- 
munion of  the  blood  of  Christ,"  is  the 
joint,  or  common  partaking  of  the  blood 
of  Christ.  The  "communion  of  the  body 
of  Christ,"  is  the  joint  partaking  of  the 
body  of  Christ.  If  but  a  single  soul  were 
the  recipient   of  salvation,  there   is  a  sense 


communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood.  239 

in  which    he   might   be    said   to   have  com- 
munion with  Christ's   body;    and  this  sense 
is  included;    but  more  is  included,  namely, 
that    he    partakes    in   common   with    many 
others,     (v.  2,  3)     The    Israelites    'were    all 
under   the   cloud,    and    all    passed    through 
the   sea.'       And,  just    after    our    text,  "for 
we,    being    many    are    one    loaf,    and     one 
body:    for    we    are    all    partakers    of    that 
one     loaf."       As     many    grains     of    wheat 
ground   and   kneaded   and   compacted,  form 
the  unity  of  a  single  loaf  of  bread  .  .  .  thus 
many  believers,  joined  to  Christ,  and  joined 
to  each  other,  form  one  corporate  structure 
of  Christian   community.     The   two   leading 
thoughts   are  therefore,  that   believers    have 
communion    or    participation    or    fellowship, 
with    Christ;    and   that,    in   this,    they  have 
fellowship  with   one    another.     And    this   is 
set  forth,  by  vivid  emblem,  in  the  one  loaf 
of    the    sacrament,    and    the    one    cup    of 
blessing. 

When  the  simple  article  of  bread,  is 
disclosed  to  view,  upon  the  Lord's  table,  it 
is  meant  to  be  an  object  of  the  senses, 
and  should  be  carefully  regarded.  It  is 
eminently  suggestive  of  the  idea  of  partici- 


240  communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood. 

pation.  It  must  be  partaken  of,  or  it  is 
nothing.  It  is  bread — the  simplest  and 
most  universal  means  of  human  nourish- 
ment; and  thus  the  basis  of  human 
strength  and  even  life.  You  need  not  be 
instructed,  whom  it  denotes.  "The  bread 
of  God!"— "The  bread  of  God  is  he  who 
cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life 
unto  the  world."  The  spiritual  sustenance 
and  nutriment  of  all  who  truly  live.  Let 
us  cry  (more  understandingly  than  those 
Jews)  4 Lord,  evermore  give  us  this  bread!' 
— Hear  the  Lord's  reply:  CI  am  the  bread 
of  life:  he  that  cometh  to  me  (a  descrip- 
tion of  faith)  shall  never  hunger ;  and  he 
that  belie veth  on  me  (faith  itself)  shall 
never  thirst.' — Here  is  participation.  The 
bread  is  partaken  of:  and  how  it  is  par- 
taken of,  is  equally  clear;  it  is  by  coming 
to  him — that  is,  by  believing  on  him.  As 
it  is  by  eating  bread,  and  in  no  other 
way,  that  we  gain  any  advantage  from  it; 
so  it  is  by  coming  to  Christ — by  believing 
on  Christ — that  we  derive  his  spiritual  life. 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that 
belie  veth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life ;  I 
am  that   bread   of  life.     This   is   the    bread 


communion  ix  Christ's  body  and  blood.  241 

which  corneth  down  from  heaven,  that  a 
man  may  eat  thereof  and  not  die.  I  am 
the  living  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven;  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he 
shall  live  forever;  and  the  bread  which  I 
will  give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will  give 
for  the  life  of  the  world."  This  brings  ns 
to  the  very  heart  of  the  subject.  The 
bread  signifies  the  dying  Redeemer.  This 
is  my  body,  broken  for  you.  This  gives 
meaning  to  the  breaking  of  the  bread: 
that  sacred  body  was  broken;  broken  by 
years  of  anticipative  dying — broken  in  the 
anguish  of  the  garden ;  broken  by  the  buf- 
fetings  of  the  soldiery  and  the  mob — bro- 
ken by  the  Roman  scourge,  the  thongs,  the 
thorns — broken  by  the  hammer,  nails  and 
spear— broken  on  the  accursed  tree — broken 
by  the  awful,  unseen,  insupportable,  almigh- 
ty, hand  of  punitive  Justice.  The  loaf  is 
therefore  broken ;  and  as  we  are  to  par- 
take of  it — and  as  we  have  seen  that  par- 
ticipation is  by  'coming,'  by  'believing' — it 
follows  that  this  faith  must  have  special 
reference  to  the  expiatory  character  of  him 
to  whom  we  come:  the  bread  which  I 
give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  give  for  the  life 
11 


242   COMMUNION  IN  CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

of  the  world ;'  Christ's  body,  which  he  lays 
upon  the  altar  as  a  sacrifice.  In  looking 
at  the  "broken  bread,  we  look  at  Jesus 
Christ,  as   the   oblation   for  our   sins. 

But  the  emblem  is  twofold:  and  we  ar- 
rive at  the  same  point  by  this  other  path. 
'The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it 
not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?' 
It  is  the  cup  of  blessing — instituted  by  him 
whose  every  word  was  a  benediction.  'He 
took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave 
it  to  them.'  Subordinate  ministers,  in  like 
manner,  give  thanks  and  implore  a  bless- 
ing. It  is  already  almost  blood  to  the 
sight:  it  is  his  "blood  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant,  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 
sins."  It  is  the  blood  from  which  comes 
our  pardon.  We  are  thus  brought  back 
again  to  the  lamb  of  God,  the  victim  of 
oblation,  and  the  object  of  faith.  It  is 
matter  of  joint-participation,  and  is  received 
by  believing,  and  by  every  partaker  who 
believes.  'Drink  ye  all  of  it.'  This  recep- 
tion is  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ.  Whether  then  we  regard  the  loaf 
broken,  or  the  wine  shed  forth,  we  see  .be- 
fore   us,    the    altar,  the    sacrifice,    and    the 


communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood.  243 

priest;  and  learn  the  method  in  which 
Faith  participates  in  the  nourishment  and 
the  life.  Thus  we  need  no  longer  say 
with  the  Jews,  l  How  can  this  man  give 
ns  his  flesh  to  eat  ? '  nor  be  astounded 
when  we  hear  the  Master's  words:  'Except 
ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and 
drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you:" 
.  ...  "for  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my 
blood  is  drink  indeed."  Nor  need  we  ask 
for  any  corporeal  presence  of  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  our  Kedeemer;  especially  as  it 
was  in  explanation  of  this  very  saying  that 
our  Lord's  words  were  uttered  (John  6 :  63) 
'It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth;  the  flesh 
profiteth  nothing:  the  words  that  I  speak 
unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are 
life:  but  there  are  some  of  you  that  be- 
lieve not.'  It  is  by  believing  the  words 
of  Christ,  that  we  have  communion  with 
him  in  his  body  and  blood. 

Every  mode  of  outward  partaking  in- 
volves this  idea;  that  what  we  partake  is 
made  our  own.  This  is  not  to  be  over- 
looked in  the  emblem.  He  who  spiritually 
eats  and  drinks,  in  Christ's  house,  and  who 
thus   comes    to    him,    does    thereby   receive 


24A  COMMUNION  IN  CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

Christ.  To  as  many  as  received  liirn,  to 
them  gave  he  authority  to  become  sons  of 
God,  even  to  them  which  believe  on  his 
name.  That  is,  faith  receives.  Faith  makes 
Christ  ours.  Every  single  metaphor  or  em- 
blem fails,  and  therefore  a  diversity  must 
be  used.  Faith  runs  and  flies  to  him — 
looks  to  him — acknowledges  him — embraces 
him — is  wedded  to  him — leans  on  him — is 
joined  to  him.  Every  way,  and  under 
every  varied  image,  there  is  participation — 
communion — Christ  is  made  over  to  the 
believer;  and  if  the  faith  is  strong,  he 
can  exclaim,  Christ  is  mine ! — But  this  ex- 
pression has  a  meaning,  after  which  we 
should  seek.  How  and  in  what  respect,  is 
Christ  given  to  the  believer?  Not  in  his 
incarnation-body,  which  some  hold;  as  if, 
by  reception  and  manducation  (such  is  the 
phrase)  the  proper  and  literal  body,  under 
the  form  and  accidents  of  a  wafer,  were 
taken  and  assimilated.  No  "the  flesh  proflt- 
eth  nothing;"  and  that  hallowed  bodv, 
"the  heavens  have  received,  until  the  time 
of  the  restitution  of  all  things."  Not  in  his 
personality,  Divine  and  human,  as  if  we 
were   transformed  into   other  beings.       Not 


communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood.  245 

by  any  miracle  connected  with  sacramental 
acts,  as  if  they  could,  by  the  mere  partici- 
pation convey  grace.  But  by  the  appro- 
priation which  faith  makes,  of  that  in 
Christ,  which  is  set  before  us  in  this 
ordinance,  and  sealed  to  us  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  He  is  the  Lord  our  Righteousness: 
and  in  this  character  he  is  received.  Faith 
looks  upon,  accredits,  and  reposes  in,  his 
satisfactory  obedience  and  atouing  death; 
beholds  the  law  honoured  and  justice  ap- 
peased ;  sees  the  emptiness  of  all  human 
merit,  human  effort  and  human  experience; 
acquiesces  in  this  way  of  redemption,  by 
price,  power,  and  infinite  favor;  and  takes 
God  at  his  word,  when  he  offers  a  gratui- 
tous salvation.  In  thus  acting,  faith  is 
aided  by  the  sensible  image,  and  regards 
the  elements  as  tokens  from  heaven,  that 
the  blessings  of  the  covenant  are  proffered 
and  secured.  Thus  looking  away  from  self, 
and  from  all  experience,-  feeling  or  qualifi- 
cation within,  as  conscious  that  these  can 
never  reach  the  due  amount,  the  believer 
looks  without,  to  the  finished  righteousness 
of  Jesus  Christ;  saying  in  silence,  perhaps 
in    the    very   moment    of    partaking,    'This 


246  communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood. 

righteousness,  thus  freely  offered,  I  a  wretch 
ed,  condemned,  helpless,  unclean,  sinner,  do 
here  take  as  mine,  simply  and  solely  be- 
cause God,  who  cannot  lie,  declares  that  he 
gives  it  to  me  in  the  gospel.  That  broken 
body  and  shed  blood  were  broken  and 
shed  for  the  remission  of  sin;  and  of  this, 
these  emblems,  which  I  taste  and  handle, 
are  the  evidences.  The  offer  is  to  every 
one  who  will  come:  Lord  I  come;  it  is 
all  I  can;  receive  me  in  the  name  of  thy 
Son!' — This  is  communion,  that  is  partici- 
pation, of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
That  is,  it  is  the  beginning  of  the  fellow- 
ship; but  it  is  not  the  end.  There  is  an 
intercourse  begun  by  the  weakest  and  ear- 
liest faith,  which  is  kept  up,  and  carried 
to  higher  and  more  tender  connexion,  as 
light  beams  more  strongly.  You  have  but 
moistened  your  lips  at  the  springing  foun- 
tain. The  crag  that  was  smitten  at  Horeb 
did  not  more  largely  satisfy  the  thirsty 
multitude,  than  the  stream  of  grace  from 
our  Eedeemer's  opened  side  revives  the 
heart  of  the  contrite  ones.  They  drink  of 
the  spiritual  Rock  that  follows  them,  and 
that  rock    is  Christ.     "If  any  man    believe 


COMMUNION  IN  CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD.   247 

in  me,  from  within  him  shall  flow  rivers 
of  living  waters."  These  wells  of  salvation 
irrigate  the  desert,  and  mark  all  the  stages 
of  the  way.  Various  are  the  times  and 
occasions  upon  which  disciples  have  this 
communion  with  Christ.  Over  the  opened 
Bible,  where  he  is  the  glory  of  both  testa- 
ments; on  their  knees — when  they  look  up 
into  his  face  of  brotherly  compassion;  in 
the  circle  of  praying  brethren,  which  they 
do  not  learn  to  neglect  until  they  have 
begun  to  hew  other  cisterns;  in  the  hon- 
ored sanctuary;  and  above  all  at  the  table 
of  their  Master;  they  hear  his  voice,  say- 
ing "Eat  O  friends!  drink,  yea  drink  abun- 
dantly, O  beloved ! "  They  go  from  strength 
to  strength,  every  one  appeareth  before 
God  in  Zion.  Sometimes  the  chief  fruits 
of  Christian  communion  are  late  in  life 
and  winter  is  made  to  show  the  blossoms 
of  spring.  So  that  the  barrenness,  unfaith- 
fulness, and  coldness  of  early  profession 
give  place  to  the  high  experience  of  ad- 
vanced stages  of  the  divine  life.  This  pro- 
gress is  however  of  the  same  nature,  greatly 
changing  in  degree  and  in  enjoyment. 
Partaking    of    Christ    as    his    righteousness, 


248   COMMUNION   IN   CHRIST'S   BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

the  most  fearful  and  doubting  disciple,  is 
henceforth  entitled  to  full  remission,  and 
to  all  the  benefits  of  the  Lord's  death. 
Such  is  therefore  the  first  leading  thought 
of  the  text,  namely,  that  believers  have 
communion,    or    participation,  or   fellowship, 

with  Christ. 

II. 

The  second  is  like  unto  it ;  that  they 
have  fellowship  with  one  another:  "the 
communion  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  the 
communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ."  It 
was  to  the  body  of  disciples,  that  he  said, 
Take,  eat — Drink  ye  all  of  it.  Here  is  the 
idea  of  number.  It  is  shed  for  many — for 
the  remission  of  sins.  As  in  our  prayer, 
we  feel  ourselves  amidst  numbers,  saying 
Oue  Father,  which  art  in  heaven ;  so  in 
our  sacrament,  we  feel  the  press  of  sur- 
rounding brethren,  and  say,  Our  Lord. 
The  truth  is  embodied  in  the  very  em- 
blem "  For  we  being  many  are  one  loaf; 
for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  loaf." 
It  is  impossible  for  men  to  be  delivered 
from  a  common  danger,  without  some  com- 
mon interest  as  the  result.  There  is  no 
tie   more   certain,  than  that   of    having  suf- 


COMMUNION  IN   CHRIST'S   BODY  AND   BLOOD.    249 

fered  together.  But  there  are  other  rea- 
sons for  this  union ;  the  chief  reason  being 
the  object  to  which  each  one  is  drawn. 
There  is  a  common  point  of  attraction.  Let 
a  multitude  of  atoms  be  drawn  from  the 
circumference  towards  the  centre,  and  they 
are  thereby  drawn  nearer  to  one  another. 
You  need  not  be  told  what  is  the  common 
centre  of  the  Christian  world.  To  that  ra- 
diant point  all  are  pressing,  by  a  holy  and 
irresistible  impulsion.  As  when  some  pa- 
triot-leader, beloved  by  those  whom  he  has 
delivered,  when  he  appears  among  them,  is 
the  one  object  of  ten  thousand  eyes ;  and 
as  the  throng  gathers  inward  and  is  con- 
centered on  his  single  person ;  compelled  to 
be  near  one  another  that  they  may  be 
more  near  to  him — so  the  scattered  mem- 
bers of  the  flock  of  the  redeemed,  as  they 
urge  their  way,  individually,  towards  the 
Chief  among  ten  thousands,  find  themselves 
in  the  same  proportion  drawn  side  by  side. 
From  different  climates,  ages,  nations,  races, 
and  religions,  they  fly  to  this  centre,  as 
clouds  and  as  doves  to  their  windows. 
Here  is  the  rallying-point :  The  root  of 
Jesse  stands  "  as  an  ensign  of  the  people." 
11* 


250  communion  ix  Christ's  body  axd  blood. 

Other  distinctions  are  lost  in  this  commun- 
ion :  "  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  nei 
ther  male  nor  female ;  for  ye  are  all  one 
in   Christ  Jesus." 

Intense  love  of  one  and  the  same 
object  must  needs  compact  men  together 
It  is  true  of  the  enthusiastic  soldiers  of  a 
great  commander.  It  is  true  of  the  ardent 
partisans  of  a  political  chief.  Strangers  be 
fore,  they  feel  themselves  clustering  around 
a  common  banner,  and  heart  responds  to 
heart.  O  how  sad,  that  the  counterpart 
of  this  is  so  hard  to  find,  in  the  Christian 
band !  "What  must  it  not  prove,  respecting 
the  degree  of  our  common  attachment  to 
the  Head !  Yet  it  undoubtedly  exists,  ex- 
actly in  proportion  to  the  love  of  the  Mas- 
ter. If  we  love  Him,  we  shall  love  one 
another  also. 

But  I  apprehend  in  this  communion  a 
more  special  and  distinct  reference  to  the 
very  thing  set  forth  in  the  sacramental 
emblem;  it  is  the  communion  of  the  body 
and  the  blood  which  save  us.  Our  fellow- 
ship is  cemented  by  the  atoning  righteous- 
ness,  in  which  all   alike   acquiesce   as   their 


communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood.  251 

own.  This  righteousness  is  one  and  indi 
visible,  yet  is  it  wholly  made  over  and 
sealed,  to  each  individual  believer,  as  truly 
as  if  the  cross  had  been  erected  for  him 
alone.  Just  as  we  are  forced  to  believe, 
of  the  Divine  Omnipresence,  that  God  is 
present  in  every  point  of  universal  space, 
and  yet  (far  from  being  divided)  is  fully 
and  wdiolly  and  divinely  present  to  each 
alike ;  so  the  glorious  righteousness  of 
Christ,  is  available,  in  all  its  length  and 
breadth  and  depth  and  height  to  each  be- 
liever, even  the  humblest  and  the  most 
unworthy.  One  Sun  lights  the  universe. 
This  unity  in  the  object  of  faith,  is  uniting 
in  its  tenderness,  and  produces  communion, 
in  regard  to  the  very  means  of  redemp- 
tion. All  have  come  out  of  ruin.  All 
were  sinners.  All  were  convicts.  All  are 
set  free.  All  are  adopted  as  sons.  All 
have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  All  eat 
the  same  spiritual  meat,  all  drink  the 
same  spiritual  drink.  All  are  encircling 
the  same  bloody  tree  —  sitting  at  the  same 
table — eating  of  the  same  bread — drinking 
of  the   same  cup.     "And  all   things  are  of 


252  communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood. 

God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself  iu 
Christ  Jesus."  The  very  operation,  there- 
fore, of  faith,  in  one  common  propitiation, 
tends  to  the  flow  and  interchange  of  new 
and  cordial  affections  anions  the  brethren. 
Beyond  this,  again,  there  are  certain 
consequences,  felt  in  the  renewed  soul,  as 
effects  of  faith  in  Christ's  body  and  blood, 
which  ensure  communion.  As  those  who 
eat  at  the  same  table  and  breathe  the 
same  air,  and  drink  of  the  same  fountain^ 
are  subject  to  the  same  physical  influences 
—  so  those  who  have  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism, one  God  and  Father,  and  one  actu- 
ating spirit,  cannot  but  be  assimilated  by 
this  common  influence.  The  truth  and  unc- 
tion of  the  Head  passes  on  to  all  the  mem- 
bers. Various  as  are  the  experience  and 
endowments  of  disciples,  they  all  have  one 
origin ;  they  are  all  governed  by  a  view 
of  the  same  bleeding  sacrifice.  The  love 
of  Christ  constrains  them  all.  The  Spirit 
of  Christ  dwells  in  them  all.  "There  are 
diversities  of  operations,  but  it  is  the  same 
God  which  worketh  all  in  all."  "For  by 
one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one 
body,   whether    we    be    Jews    or    Gentiles, 


COMMUNION    IN   CHKIST'S   BODY  AND   BLOOD.   253 

whether  we  be  bond  or  free ;  and  have 
been  all  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit." 
There  is  a  family-likeness  in  Christ's  house. 
It  is  beautifully  exemplified,  when  believ- 
ers of  different  churches  come  together ; 
when  disciples  from  remote  climes  and  con- 
tinents, in  differing  languages,  compare 
their  hearts;  when  distant  ages  are  brought 
near,  and  we  find  the  same  faith,  love, 
fears  and  joys,  in  Poly  carp  or  Augustine, 
and  in  Luther  or  Payson.  It  shall  one 
day  be  more  triumphantly  manifested,  in 
the  mutual  gratulations  and  common  thanks- 
givings, of  the  "  great  multitude  which  no 
man  can  number,  out  of  all  nations  and 
kindreds  and  people  and  tongues,  who  are 
to  stand  before  the  throne,  and  before  the 
Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  with 
palms  in  their  hands."  All  saints,  in  earth 
and  heaven,  by  participating  in  the  same 
sacrifice,  are  likened  to  the  same  model, 
and   rendered  members  one  of  another. 

To  proceed  further ;  if  we  truly  par- 
take in  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  if 
our  souls  feed  on  him  by  faith ;  and  if 
we  '  receive  of  his  Spirit ;  we  shall  infalli- 
bly be  led  to  brotherly  communion  by  this 


254  COMMUNION  IN  CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

special  influence ;  to  wit,  the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit  will  be  love.  Hear  how  the  disci- 
ple who  lay  on  Christ's  bosom  speaks  in  one 
breath  of  the  sacrifice  and  the  love :  "  If 
we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the 
light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another, 
and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  "  For  this  is 
the  message  that  ye  heard  from  the  be- 
ginning, that  we  should  love  one  another." 
"  Beloved  if  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought 
also  to  love  one  another." — "  He  that  lov- 
eth  not  his  brother,  whom  he  hath  seen, 
how  can  he  love  God,  whom  he  hath  not 
seen?"  It  was  the  badge  of  early  Christi- 
anity :  "  See  how  these  Christians  love  one 
another!"  It  will  shine  again,  on  the  re- 
newed Christianity  of  a  better  age ;  in 
which  the  brother  whom  we  love,  shall 
not  be  merely  the  friend  of  our  own  cir- 
cle— the  man  with  a  gold  ring  in  goodly 
apparel — the  professor  whose  social  stand- 
ing shall  excite  no  fears  of  losing  caste 
among  mercenary  and  heartless  worldlings 
— but  the  poorest  and  the  feeblest,  who 
bears  the  lineaments  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.      Such    love    springs   warmly  at   the 


COMMUNION"   IN   CHRIST'S   BODY  AND   BLOOD.    255 

table  of  true  communion,  when  we  know 
no  man  after  the  flesh,  but  give  way  to 
the  generous  and  childlike  attachment 
which  belongs  to  those  who  are  sprinkled 
with  the  same  blood. — We  have  thus  con- 
sidered the  second  particular  of  the  text, 
that  believers  have  communion  with  one 
another. 

The  practical  deduction  which  the 
apostle  makes  from  these  truths  is  one 
which  should  fix  our  attention.  If  so  much 
is  meant  by  our  sacramental  profession 
of  union  to  Christ  and  his,  then  are 
we  solemnly  bound  to  live  as  a  separate, 
a  peculiar  people,  to  avoid  the  world;  to 
respect  weak  consciences ;  to  remove  all 
stumbling-blocks.  It  is  no  sign  of  love  to 
Christ,  when,  with  obstinate  selfishness,  one 
who  is  called  a  brother,  pursues  his  own 
path,  in  disregard  of  the  example  which 
he  sets  his  brethren,  or  the  grief  he  may 
cause  in  their  hearts.  "  All  things  (v.  23) 
are  lawful  for  me,  but  all  things  edify 
not :  let  no  man  seek  his  own,  but  every 
man  another's  wealth."  The  apostle  was 
more  noble,  and  he  was  more  safe.  He 
urges   the   obvious   principle,  that  they  who 


256  communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood. 

adhere  to  any  religion,  should  live  accord- 
ingly. The  Israelites  "were  baptized  unto 
Moses."  The  Jews  were  bound  by  their 
sacred  vows,  v.  18 :  "  Behold  Israel  after 
the  flesh:  are  not  they  which  eat  of  the 
sacrifices  partakers  of  the  altar  ?"  Hence 
those  who  sit  down  with  Christ,  should 
not  conform  to  the  equivocal  customs  of 
the  world.  Though  an  idol  is  but  a  block, 
or  a  stone,  or  a  molten  toy — yet  "  Ye  can- 
not drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
cup  of  devils :  ye  cannot  be  partakers  of 
the  Lord's  table,  and  the  table  of  devils." 
We  are  sworn  at  God's  altars.  We  have 
taken  him  as  our  God,  and  avowed  our- 
selves to  be  his  people.  We  are  his  wit- 
nesses. The  keen,  unsparing  eye  of  the 
world  is  upon  us.  How  much  is  dependant 
on  our  purity,  our  courage,  and  our  affec- 
tion ! 

Beloved  brethren,  while  we  reject  the 
superstitious  mystery,  and  unscriptural  ter- 
rors, which  have  been  conjured  around 
this  ordinance  by  priestcraft  and  deception, 
and  which  have  made  it  more  like  a  charm 
or  an  incantation  than  a  memorial  of  dy- 
ing love ;    we    still    claim   for    it   a    sacred- 


COMMUNION   IN   CHRIST'S   BODY  AND   BLOOD.   257 

ness  unlike  any  on  earth.  "When  we  come, 
together,  to  eat  of  this  bread  and  drink 
of  this  cup,  we  do  show  forth  the  Lord's 
death,  till  he  come.  Is  it  not  the  com- 
munion of  the  body  —  of  the  blood  of 
Christ !  If  the  worshipper  who  prepared 
to  enter  the  typical  sanctuary  must  wash 
his  body  in  pure  water  —  how  cautiously, 
how  reverently  should  we  draw  near  the 
place  where  the  appointed  emblems  set 
forth  Christ,  evidently  crucified  in  the 
midst  of  us  !  With  what  holy  expectation 
should  we  long  for  the  moment,  when  Je- 
sus himself  shall  speak  to  us,  not  merely 
in  accustomed  words,  but  by  sensible  re- 
presentations, which  tell  of  his  very  agony 
and  death !  If  we  have  often  approached 
with  little  profit,  let  us  enlarge  our  desires, 
and  pray  for  more  near  and  comprehen- 
sive and  heart-affecting  views  of  the  match- 
less love.  Let  us,  in  humble  preparation, 
make  ready  a  place  to  receive  him.  Let 
us  scourge  the  money-changers  out  of  the 
temple.  Let  us  bar  the  door  against  every 
enemy  and  every  rival.  Let  us  purge  out 
the  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness,  and 
keep   the   feast  with   the  unleavened  bread 


258   COMMUNION  IN"  CHRIST'S   BODY  AND  BLOOD. 

of  sincerity  and  truth.  Beware  of  thinking 
that  you  have  experienced  all  that  religion 
has  to  give  ;  of  suspecting  that  for  you  there 
are  no  high  attainments  in  store.  Empty 
the  vessel — that  it  may  be  replenished  with 
grace.  It  is  lie  who  says,  "Open  thy 
mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it."  Have  we 
lived  to  this  clay,  for  nothing  ?  Shall  we 
cry,  with  unbelieving  Israel — "Is  the  Lord 
among  us,  or  not?"  Behold  him,  in  the 
midst  of  us,  opening  the  treasure  of  his 
promises,  and  offering  the  communion  of 
his  body.  That  which  is  held  up  in  the 
ordinance,  is  no  other  than  what  we  some- 
times call  the  cross.  Here,  as  in  a  com- 
memorative picture  for  the  view  of  faith, 
Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world!  This  is  the  door  to 
that  communion,  which  you  may,  as  an  in- 
dividual enjoy  with   him. 

But  ye  are  brethren;  remember  there- 
fore your  fellowship  in  grace.  Approach  as 
fellow-heirs  of  the  same  promise.  Pledge 
to  one  another,  friendship,  fidelity,  forgive- 
ness, mutual  aid,  warm  affection,  in  the  par- 
ticipation of  a  common  good.  Over  the 
ancient  sacrifices,  there  were  feasts  of  good- 
will, fraternity  and   joy.     This    (though    no 


COMMUNION   IN   CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD.   259 

sacrifice)  is  nevertheless  a  feast.  The  cup 
of  blessing,  which  we  bless,  and  which 
passes  from  hand  to  hand,  is  it  not  the 
communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  to- 
ken and  pledge  of  joint-interest  in  that 
expiatory  suffering?  The  bread  which  we 
break,  —  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
body  of  Christ — broken  and  disfigured  and 
tortured  even  to  death,  for  the  sins,  not 
of  one,  but  of  all?  The  heart  must  turn 
to  ice,  before  it  can  reject  the  melting  in- 
fluence. Rely  upon  it  —  our  strength  and 
efficiency  as  a  church,  will  be  in  the  exact 
proportion  of  one  common  interest,  and 
brotherly-attachment.  Receive  ye  one  an- 
other in  the  Lord,  even  as  Christ  hath 
first  received  you.  Let  not  our  only  union 
be  periodical,  sacramental,  and  ceremonial. 
Let  not  your  love  be  simply  passive,  or 
simply  negative.  Put  forth  some  active 
means  to  brighten  the  chain  which  binds 
us.  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and 
so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ.  Love  the  bro- 
therhood. Look  not  every  man  on  his  own 
things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things 
of  others.  So  live,  that  this  principle  of 
communion  in  a  common  Head  may  leave 
its    mark   on   all  the   series  of  your  actions 


260  communion  in  Christ's  body  and  blood. 

Those  with  whom  we  hope  to  spend  eter- 
nity in  heaven  are  such  as  we  should  seek 
out  here.  Those  who  are  worthy  of 
Christ's  fellowship,  are  worthy  of  ours. 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  be  so  far 
infatuated  by  the  glare  of  temporal  dis- 
tinctions, as  to  seek  our  chief  commerce 
with  the  children  of  this  world,  because 
of  their  worldly  attractions,  and  count 
these  charms  more  valuable  than  the  like- 
ness of  Christ  in  his  humble  followers,  let 
us  make  up  our  minds  for  this  inevitable 
result:  God  will  visit  us  and  ours  with  his 
frown  and  his  chastisement.  Our  rewards 
will  be  in  the  communion  we  have  loved. 
Our  branches  will  wither  and  show  no 
swelling  clusters.  Our  houses,  though  fre- 
quented by  the  sons  of  pleasure,  will  sa- 
vour less  and  less  of  God.  The  temper  of 
our  families  will  be  taken  from  the  fashion 
of  this  world.  Our  sons  will  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  unbelieving,  and  grow  up 
careless  if  not  profane.  Our  church  will 
dwindle,  if  not  die. — O  for  the  heavenly 
unction,  which  shall  make  the  communion  of 
this  day,  the  means  of  drawing  us,  first, 
nearer  to  the  Lord — and  then,  nearer  to 
one    another !     Amen. 


X. 
ALL   THINGS    BUT    LOSS. 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 


Phil.    3  :  8. 


"  Yea  doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss,  for  the  ex- 
cellency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 

"When  we  look  at  the  preceding  verses, 
we  see  abundant  reason  why  Paul,  if  any 
one,  might  have  had  '  confidence  in  the 
flesh ;'  or  might  have  felt  a  complacency 
in  his  personal  advantages  and  merits.  As 
to  descent  and  sect,  he  was  a  Hebrew  of 
the  Hebrews,  pertaining  to  one  of  the  most 
patriotic  and  favoured  tribes ;  a  Pharisee 
of  the  very  strictest  sort.  Those  who  had 
known  his  youth  would  remember  him  as 
having  every  prerogative  which  the  purest 
Judaism  could  boast.  As  to  life  and  mo- 
rals, he  had  been,  according  to  their  own 
standard,  not  only  above  reproach  but  zeal- 
ous even  to  enthusiasm  and  fury.  These 
things,    with    whatsoever    learning,    reputa- 


264  ALL   THINGS   BUT   LOSS. 

tion,  rank  and  influence,  he  may  have  pos- 
sessed, were  formerly  ground  of  boasting ; 
not  only  sources  of  complacency  in  the 
si^ht  of  men,  but  cause  of  confidence  in 
the  sight  of  God.  By  these  covenant- 
rights,  by  this  title  as  a  son  of  Abraham, 
by  this  adherence  to  the  law  of  Moses,  by 
this  fanatical  championship  for  the  old  reli- 
gion, he  had  hoped  to  save  his  soul.  But 
now  the  current  of  his  thoughts,  judg- 
ments and  affections  has  been  entirely  re- 
versed ;  so  that  all  these  advantages  he  re- 
gards as  nothing ;  and  this  in  comparison 
of  a  new  treasure  which  he  has  gained. 
Like  the  merchantman,  having  found  the 
pearl  of  great  price,  he  sells  his  all,  to  buy 
it.  "  But  what  things  were  gain  to  me, 
those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea  doubt- 
less, and  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord :  for  whom  I  have  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  thiugs,  and  do  count  them 
but   dung,  that   I   may  win   Christ." 

The  true  disciple  reckons  all  attain- 
ments AND  ADVANTAGES  WORTHLESS,  IN  COM- 
PARISON  WITH   THE   KNOWLEDGE    OF    CHRIST. 

Expecting  to   revert  to   the  same   topic, 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  265 

let  us  here  observe,  that  the  peculiar  ex- 
pression "  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus," 
has  great  significancy.  It  is  by  knowing 
Christ,  that  we  come  to  obtain  his  grace. 
It  is  by  knowing,  that  we  believe.  That 
which  we  believe,  to  the  saving  of  our 
souls,  is  matter  of  previous  knowledge. 
"  This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know 
Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  thou  hast  sent."  Jo.  17 :  3.  Mark 
the  expression,  the  only  true  God:  God  is 
the  infinite,  eternal,  essential  Truth.  The 
object  of  all  faith  and  all  knowledge  is 
truth.  "God  is  Light."  Jesus  is  "the  true 
light."  The  soul's  apprehension  of  this  light 
of  truth,  embodied  in  the  Lord  Christ  as 
in  a  permanent-  luminary,  is  salvation. 
Thus  man  is  dealt  with  as  a  rational  crea- 
ture, an  intelligence  made  to  seek  and  en- 
joy truth,  an  immortal  spirit  destined  to  be 
forever  conversant  with  the  true  light.  At 
the  juncture  of  first  believing,  the  soul 
comes  out  of  darkness  into  day,  and  fixes 
its  gaze  upon  the  Sun  of  righteousness. 
"  At  midday,  O  King,"  said  Paul  to  Agrip- 
pa,  "I  saw  in  the  way  a  light  from  hea- 
ven, above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shin- 
12 


266  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

ing  round  about  me."  This  was  only  a 
symbol  of  the  light  which  was  hereafter 
to  guide  his  way ;  a  super-excellent  know- 
ledge, for  which  he  was  to  account  all 
things  but  loss. 

1.  He  reckons  all  but  loss,  as  an  ob- 
ject of  pursuit.  All  men  have  some  ob- 
ject of  pursuit ;  and  all  great,  influential 
men,  have  some  object  which  they  pursue 
intently.  Paul  was  not  in  his  natural  state 
a  man  without  an  aim.  The  wheels  of  his 
chariot  were  almost  fired  with  the  revolu- 
tion. Such  glimpses  as  he  gives  us  show 
that  his  youthful  career  had  been  one  of 
ardor  and  impetuosity.  He  had  sought 
science  and  learning.  Though  rude  in 
speech,  according  to  an  Attic  standard,  yet 
not,  he  says,  in  knowledge.  He  had  read 
their  poets.  He  was  of  a  literary  capital. 
Zeal  for  learning  had  carried  him  to  Jeru- 
salem, to  the  school  of  Gamaliel,  a  Phari- 
see-professor. In  all  rabbinical  lore  he  was 
deeply  versed.  The  glory  of  Judaism  had 
been  his  aim.  He  was  in  arms  against  the 
Church,  exceedingly  mad,  breathing  out 
threatening  and  slaughter,  thinking  he 
ought     to     do     many    things     against    the 


ALL   THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  267 

name  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  a  blasphemer,  a 
persecutor,  injurious.  —  These  statements 
make  the  change  more  striking.  He  is 
not  subdued  into  lethargy.  He  has  not  lost 
his  velocity  or  his  momentum,  but  has  put 
them  upon  a  new  line  of  direction.  Still 
he  pursues ;  but  the  object  is  new.  Sud- 
denly beholding  charms  hitherto  all  undis- 
covered, he  abandons  the  chase  of  what 
just  now  delighted  him,  and  goes  with  fer- 
vid haste  in  quest  of  the  excellency  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord. 
Something  he  knows ;  but  not  enough. 
Tastes  of  this  fountain  do  but  augment 
the  thirst  for  more.  Glimpses  of  that  coun- 
tenance excite  desires  for  more  ravishing 
acquaintance.  He  still  is  true  to  his  spirit- 
ual, intellectual  nature,  and  still  pants  for 
knowledge ;  but  in  a  new  field,  and  of  a 
new  kind,  of  a  new  degree,  (jo  vmpexov) 
supereminent  knowledge.  All  previous  ob- 
jects of  research  and  endeavor  have  be- 
come distant,  faint  and  uncontrolling,  com- 
pared with  this  new  object,  Christ  Jesus. 
It  is  the  object  known  which  stimulates 
the  ardent  longing.  'We  would  see  Jesus,' 
cried  certain  Greeks:  CI  would  know  Jesus,' 


268  ALL  THINGS   BUT  LOSS. 

cries  Paul,  as  yet  unsated  with  his  revela- 
tions. Nor  was  he  a  novice,  when  he 
penned  these  words ;  yet  still,  after  years 
of  learning  and  believing,  he  is  seen,  as  in 
mid-race,  urging  his  way  towards  the  goal. 
No  look  is  turned  towards  the  past ;  all  is 
forgotten,  while  he  strains  muscle  and  sinew 
in  the  course.  For  what  is  this  fleet  pursuer 
running  ?  "  that  I  may  win  Christ !"  v.  8. 
"  that  I  may  know  him ;"  v.  10.  "  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  his  sufferings."  The  language  is 
that  of  unwearied  exertion  :  "  not  as  though 
I  had  already  attained  —  but  I  follow 
after." — "I  press  towards  the  mark,  for 
the  prize  of  the  high-calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus." — The  knowledge  which  Paul 
covets,  and  which  every  disciple  seeks,  is 
not  speculative  but  effectual.  It  appropri- 
ates. It  makes  the  object  ours.  It  wins 
Christ.  It  causes  the  soul  to  be  found  in 
Christ.  It  takes  the  prize  of  the  high- 
calling.  Where  truth  is  apprehended  by 
Faith,  the  truth  is  made  ours.  Such  be- 
lieving views  of  Christ  unite  to  him,  and 
make  us  participants  of  the  new,  eternal 
life  which  is  in  him.     This  gives  the  super- 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  269 

eminency  to  such  knowledge.  Well  may 
the  believer,  for  this,  give  up  all,  and  say: 
"This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind  and  reaching 
forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before, 
I  press,  I  press  toward  the  mark."  Here 
is  intensity.  Here  is  revealed  the  ruling 
passion.  In  his  measure,  every  true  be- 
liever makes  knowledge  of  Christ  his  Sa- 
viour and  union  with  him,  the  great,  par- 
amount, all-absorbing  end,  for  which  he 
shuts  eyes  and  ears  upon  all  earthly  ri- 
vals, and  runs  saying,  "This  one  thing  I 
do!" 

2.  He  reckons  all  but  loss  as  a  meri- 
toeious  geound  of  hope.  Those  remarka- 
ble advantages  which  he  recites  and  repu- 
diates, had  all  been  pleaded  by  him,  as 
the  procuring  cause  of  his  salvation.  To 
this  day,  wherever  you  find  a  Jew,  you 
find  one  who  hopes  to  secure  God's  favor 
by  works  of  righteousness  which  he  has 
done;  and  O  how  slavish  and  burdensome 
are  the  services  which  the  blinded  sons 
of  Jacob  impose  on  themselves!  And  how 
natural  the  lapse  of  even  Christian  com- 
munities, into   the   same  will-worship,  as  we 


270  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

see  in  the  Churcli  of  Konie.  Saul  of  Tar 
sus  was  rich  in  such  merits.  "  If  any  other 
man  thinketh  that  he  hath  whereof  he 
might  trust  in  the  flesh — I  more."  Not  a 
convert  or  proselyte,  but  "circumcised  the 
eighth  day;"  not  of  the  half-blood,  like 
Timothy,  but  "  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews ;" 
not  of  the  schismatic  Israel,  but  "  of  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin;"  not  a  Sadducean  skep- 
tic, but  "as  touching  the  law,  a  Pharisee;" 
not  a  lukewarm  trimmer,  but  "concerning 
zeal,  persecuting  the  Church ;"  not  an  anti- 
nomian  free-liver,  but  "as  touching  the 
righteousness  which  is  in  the  law,  blame- 
less." He  had  observed  all  from  his  youth 
up;  sacrifices,  prayers,  tithes,  fastings,  puri- 
fications, abstinences.  Here  was  a  fund  of 
merit,  which  according  to  any  legal  stand- 
ard was  worth  more  than  all  the  riches 
of  the  earth,  and  made  sure  his  entrance 
into  heaven.  How  does  he  regard  it,  from 
his  new  point  of  observation  beside  the 
Cross?  "What  things  were  gain  to  me, 
those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ."  The  most 
contemptuous  expressions  are  employed,  to 
show  his  depreciation  of  all  such  merits. 
He  has  actually  thrown  them  overboard  v. 


ALL  THINGS   BUT  LOSS.  271 

8  "for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  things"  ....  and  let  us  observe  for 
what  .  .  .  "that  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be 
found  in  him,  not  having  mine  own  right- 
eousness which  is  of  the  law,  but  that 
which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith." 
My  brethren,  this  is  a  most  important  point, 
to  which  I  beg  your  undivided  attention, 
while  you  mark  the  precise  terms  of  the 
antithesis.  See  the  things  put  in  contrast: 
1.  My  own  righteousness,  2.  GocPs  righteous- 
ness— my  own  righteousness,  which  is  of 
the  law:  God's  righteousness,  which  is  of 
faith.  Legal  righteousness:  gracious  right- 
eousness. Kighteousness  by  doing:  right- 
eousness by  believing.  The  former  he  re- 
jects: the  latter  he  seeks  after.  Here,  be- 
loved brethren,  we  have  the  whole  gospel, 
the  whole  plan  of  salvation.  If  you  are 
right  here,  you  cannot  go  wrong  in  any 
fundamental  point.  And  if  through  divine 
grace  you  could  apprehend  this  one  truth, 
in  a  proper  and  evangelical  way,  you  would 
go   away  justified  and   saved. 

Let    it    be   carefully   noted,   that,  as    to 
essentials,    the    experience    of    Paul    is    the 


272  ALL  THINGS  BUT   LOSS. 

experience  of  all  men  who  are  called 
Their  first  endeavour  is  to  be  saved  by  a 
righteousness  of  their  own.  It  is  the  in- 
stinct of  a  nature  born  under  the  covenant 
of  works.  The  legal  axe,  laid  at  the  root 
of  the  trees,  effects  so  much  as  this ;  it 
demonstrates  the  impossibility  of  keeping 
the  law.  Yet  the  jDrocess  is  long  by  which 
sinners  arrive  at  this  great  conclusion.  The 
state  of  many  awakened  persons  is  pre- 
cisely that  of  the  Jews  as  sadly  described 
by  Paul,  Ro.  10:3.  "For  they,  being  igno- 
rant of  God's  righteousness  and  going  about 
to  establish  their  own  righteousness,  have 
not  submitted  themselves  unto  the  right- 
eousness of  God."  The  third  and  fourth 
chapters  of  Romans  are  chiefly  employed 
in  battering  down  this  stronghold  of  self 
righteousness.  But  sooner  or  later,  the 
true  convert  comes  to  the  conclusion,  that 
the  work  is  all  of  grace,  and  that  he  must 
receive  a  salvation  already  wrought.  You 
may  go  through  the  biographies  of  those 
who  have  been  remarkable  for  clear  and 
lively  hopes,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  and 
you  will  perceive  that  they  passed  through 
this    very    crisis.       The    history    of    Luther 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  273 

though  known  to  most,  deserves  citation  in 
this  place.  There  was  nothing  which  the 
devout  young  monk  would  not  have  done, 
to  obtain  God's  favor.  Every  thing  that 
law  could  do,  in  the  way  of  submission 
and  terror,  was  already  done.  Like  Paul, 
he  was  blameless.  Yet  he  was  in  despair. 
"I  saw,  said  he,  that  I  was  a  great  sinner 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and  I  did  not  think 
it  possible  for  me  to  propitiate  him  by 
mine  own  merits."  I  tortured  myself  al- 
most to  death,  to  procure  peace  with  God 
for  my  troubled  heart  and  agitated  con- 
science;  but  surrounded  with  thick  dark- 
ness, I  found  peace  nowhere."  Even  after 
certain  gleams  of  light  had  broken  in,  he 
would  say,  to  his  aged  friend  and  guide, 
Staupitz:  "How  can  I  dare  believe  in  the 
favor  of  God,  so  long  as  there  is  no  real 
conversion  in  me?  I  must  be  changed, 
before  he  will  accept  me."  Staupitz  re- 
plied, and  I  beg  your  consideration  of  his 
reply:  "There  is  no  real  repentance  except 
that  which  begins  with  the  love  of  God 
and  of  righteousness.  What  others  im- 
agine to  be  the  end  and  accomplishment 
of  repentance,  is  on  the  contrary  only  its 
12* 


274  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

beginning.  In  order  that  you  may  "be 
filled  with  the  love  of  what  is  good,  you 
must  first  be  filled  with  love  to  God. 
Love  Him  who  first  loved  you ! " — "When 
afterwards,  lying  ill  from  mental  anguish, 
an  aged  friar  tried  to  make  him  say  from 
the  Creed,  CI  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sins;'  and  added,  "Ah,  it  is  God's  com- 
mand that  we  believe  our  own  sins  are 
forgiven  us,  for  Christ's  sake,"  he  experi- 
enced immediate  delight;  and  the  pious 
adviser  rejoined,  "Hear  what  St.  Bernard 
says  in  his  Discourse  on  the  Annunciation: 
'The  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  thy 
heart  is  this,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  !' " 
It  was  from  exercises  such  as  these  that 
the  great  Reformer  was  led  to  ascribe  such 
value  to  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by 
faith  alone,  without  the  works  of  the  law; 
so  as  to  call  it  the  doctrine  by  which  the 
Church  must  stand  or  fall.  In  the  same 
proportion,  he  accounted  all  his  former  bit- 
ter penances,  vigils,  almsdeeds  and  mortifi- 
cations, as  less  than  nothing. — In  this  house 
to-day,  persons  are  doubtless  found,  who 
are  cherishing  the  same  errors,  and  setting 
great  value   on  efforts  of  their  own,  which 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  275 

they  ought,  with  Paul  and  Luther,  to  cast 
forever  behind  them.  Instead  of  doing  too 
little,  they  are  doing  too  much;  but  it  is 
all  in  their  own  strength.  What  they  are 
striving  after,  under  the  false  opinion  that 
it  is  repentance,  is  some  humbling,  sorrow, 
submission,  hatred  of  sin,  amendment  of 
life,  secret  change,  which  shall  make  God 
ready  to  accept  them,  and  give  them  a 
warrant  to  believe.  'They  have  not  sub- 
mitted themselves  unto  the  righteousness  of 
God.'  All  their  doings  proceed  upon  an 
undervaluing  of  the  finished  work  of  Christ, 
as  if  He  had  not  done  enough.  Joyful  is 
the  hour,  when  all  this  is  abandoned,  an 
hour  to  be  remembered  even  at  the  gates 
of  death.  In  1855,  a  lovely  Christian  wife 
and  mother  was  in  the  dying  struggle,  on 
the  banks  of  the  lake  of  Geneva.  Con- 
versing with  her  husband,  a  man  of  great 
eminence,  she  reverted  to  the  youthful  days 
when  Christ  found  her.  Her  own  account 
is  very  touching:  "It  was  in  1828;  she 
was  desirous  to  be  saved,  and  accordingly 
read  many  sermons  and  communion  exer- 
cises, in  which  after  the  manner  of  that 
period  much  was  said  about  what  man  has 


276  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

to  do,  but  little  about  what  Christ  has  al- 
ready done.  In  spite  of  all  her  efforts,  she 
could  not  obtain  peace  of  soul,  and  was 
wearying  herself  in  vain.  .  .  .  'I  was  sad 
and  languishing,  even  amidst  the  aniuse- 
ments  of  the  w^orld.  .  .  One  day,  in  the 
spring  of  1828,  rny  sisters  and  I  were  sur- 
prised by  a  shower,  near  (Pre-1'Eveque) 
the  house  of  Mr.  Malan.  We  went  in. 
Mr.  Malan  ashed  me  if  I  was  a  believer; 
I  said  Yes.  He  asked  me  if  I  was  sure 
of  going  to  heaven ;  I  said  No.  Then  he 
announced  to  me  the  Gospel,  and  two  ex- 
pressions above  all  struck  me;  one  was, 
He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life ;  the  other, 
It  is  finished.  O,  I  cried,  Jesus  does  not 
merely  help  ...  he  saves !  the  salvation  is 
then  complete.  I  have  been  mourning  that 
I  could  not  accomplish  it;  and  now  I 
learn  that  Jesus  has  accomplished  it.  What 
joy!'  From  that  time  there  was  a  great 
change  in  her  heart;  to  overwhelming  sad- 
ness succeeded  serenity  and  comfort."" 
This  is  true  experience,  and  it  is  common. 
No  sooner  does  the  believer's  eye  fairly 
open  upon  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of    Christ   Jesus  his  Lord,   than    he   rejects 

*  Account  of  Madame  Merle's  death. 


ALL   THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  277 

all  other  modes  of  pardon  and  peace. 
Thus  the  beggar  abandons  his  rags,  when 
gifted  with  white  raiment.  Thus  the  ship- 
wrecked mariner  forsakes  his  parting  raft, 
to  be  received  upon  some  rescuing  vessel. 
All  the  past,  with  its  imperfections  and  its 
cares,  is  forever  thrown  into  the  shade, 
while  the  believer  exults  in  the  work  of 
his   Redeemer. 

3.  He  reckons  all  hut  loss,  foe  the  sake 

OF    HIS   NEW   ACQUISITION    AND    CAUSE    OF   GLO- 

eying.  For  time,  but  especially  for  eterni- 
ty, he  is  enriched.  The  supremely  excellent 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  is  his.  It  is  the 
same  with  the  knowledge  of  God's  love; 
concerning  which  our  apostle  says, — "that 
ye  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all 
saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and 
depth  and  height,  and  to  know  the  love 
of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge."  He 
who  has  attained  to  true  religion  feels  that 
now  for  the  first  time  he  has  the  elements 
of  true  happiness.  But  possessing  true  re- 
ligion is  nothing  else  than  possessing  Christ, 
who  henceforth  dwells  in  the  heart  by 
faith.  Thus  speaks  Paul:  "that  I  may 
know  Him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrec- 


278  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

tion,  and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings, 
being  made  conformable  to  his  death ;  if 
by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  res- 
urrection of  the  dead."  In  this  world  he 
has  assurance  and  earnest  of  what  his 
Lord  will  do  for  him ;  but  at  the  second 
coming,  his  vile  body  is  to  be  fashioned 
like  unto  Christ's  glorious  body.  Salvation 
is  incomplete  in  this  world.  The  children 
of  God  are  troubled,  chastened,  tempted, 
separate.  They  know  not  one  another. 
The  time  of  the  general  resurrection  is 
that  of  the  gathering  together  of  all  the 
Church  triumphant.  Christ  will  be  the 
centre  of  the  immense  circle,  the  visible 
Head  of  the  family.  Expectation  of  this, 
founded  on  our  Lord's  grace  and  righteous- 
ness, quickens  the  joys  of  him  who  believes. 
This  is  his  honour  and  bliss.  "  God  forbid 
that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  In  former  days, 
he  has  gloried  in  other  things.  He  has 
left  them  all  behind.  Christ  is  all.  The 
knowledge  of  him  infinitely  transcends  all 
the  discoveries  of  science  and  all  the  charms 
of  letters  and  art.  To  know  Mm,  is  the 
prelibation    of  heaven.     To  know  him  more 


ALL  THINGS   BUT  LOSS.  279 

fully  will  be  heaven  complete.  This  was 
Paul's  single  passion.  It  ruled — it  bore  him 
onward,  through  difficulties  and  persecu- 
tions. As  the  swift  runner  in  the  games 
disregarded  all  the  ground  passed  over, 
and  counted  nothing  done,  till  he  touched 
the  garland,  so  Paul  despised  every  attain- 
ment in  comparison  with  what  was  to 
come.  He  hears  God  calling  out  of  heav- 
en ;  he  sees  God  holding  forth  a  reward ; 
this  is  his  goal;  this  is  the  prize  of  the 
high-calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  Lan- 
guage cannot  describe  a  more  ardent  press- 
ure onwards.  He  pants,  he  runs,  he  stretch- 
es forth  the  hand,  he  throws  off  every 
weight,  in  thought  he  already  seizes  the 
crown. — When  a  true  believer  begins  to 
taste  the  blessedness  of  his  acquisition  and 
to  comprehend  the  extent  and  riches  of 
what  is  reserved  for  him  in  heaven;  all 
regrets  for  the  past  vanish.  Among  thou- 
sands who  have  made  temporal  sacrifices 
for  Christ's  sake,  we  hear  none  complain- 
ing. Only  false  disciples  long  for  the  leeks, 
the  onions,  and  the  fleshpots  of  Egypt.  If 
this  serene  complacency  in  a  religious  life 
seems    strange  to   any,   it  is   to  those  who 


280  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

have  no  idea  of  what  religion  is.  If  there 
is  any  thing  over  which  a  rational  being 
might  exult,  it  is  acquaintance  and  recon- 
ciliation with  God;  it  is  "being  on  right 
terms  with  the  holy  and  benignant  Crea- 
tor; it  is  holding  filial  correspondence  with 
him  whom  we  had  offended  by  wicked 
works.  What  are  learning,  power  and 
wealth  to  this?  Hear  the  unerring  decision 
of  heaven:  "Thus  saith  Jehovah,  Let  not 
the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wisdom,  neither 
let  the  mighty  man  glory  in  his  might, 
let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in  his  riches: 
but  let  him  that  glorieth  glory  in  this, 
that  he  understandeth  and  knoweth  me, 
that  I  am  the  Lord,  which  exercise  loving- 
kindness,  judgment  and  righteousness,  in  the 
earth;  for  in  these  things  do  I  delight, 
saith  the  Lord."  Jer.  9:23  Hear  the  new 
testament  version  of  the  same:  "Yea 
doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss, 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus   my  Lord." 

My  Christian  brethren,  the  character 
here  set  forth  commends  itself  to  your  ap- 
proval, however  far  remote  from  it  your 
own  may  be.     It  is  no  neutral,  timeserving 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.         281 

character.  Those  whom  we  call  great  men 
in  history  are  men  of  a  mighty,  and  in 
general  of  a  single  impulse.  He  who  is 
drawn  in  various  directions  cannot  excel. 
But  when  all  motives  seem  to  become  sub- 
servient to  one,  the  effect  is  constancy,  en- 
ergy and  success.  Our  modern  half-way 
religion,  running  partly  one  way  and  partly 
another,  fearing  the  Lord  and  serving  one's 
own  Gods,  speaking  half  the  language  of 
Ashdod,  halting  between  Jehovah  and  Baal, 
bowing  to  God  and  Mammon,  this  is  not 
the  principle  which  will  make  martyrs  or 
convert  the  world.  The  true  disciple  who 
struggles  up  the  rocky  coast  of  repentance, 
makes  it  his  first  business  to  burn  his 
boats.  He  cuts  off  every  possibility  of  re- 
treat. The  great  future  is  so  bright  and 
absorbing,  that  the  past  goes  for  nothing. 
One  thing  is  needful — one  thing  he  does — 
One  Peeson,  infinite  in  holy  charms,  has 
won  his  eye  and  his  heart.  Hinder  me 
not,  he  exclaims.  And  as  if  he  had  been 
nailed  to  the  same  cross,  and  marked  with 
the  same  stigmata  in  hands  and  feet,  he 
cries,  "Henceforth  let  no  man  trouble  me, 
for  I  bear  in  my   body   the  marks   of  the 


282  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

Lord  Jesus!"  Dear  brethren,  how  lamenta- 
bly we  fall  short  of  this  concentration  of 
affection  and  purpose.  We  know  there  is 
such  a  temper — we  have  observed  it  in 
others;  perhaps  for  short  seasons,  we  have 
felt  it  in  ourselves.  But  the  fascinations  of 
society,  the  intoxicating  spell  of  daily  busi- 
ness, the  alternations  of  loss  and  gain,  de- 
sire and  apprehension,  the  deceitfulness  of 
riches,  and  the  lusts  of  other  things,  choke 
the  rising  faith  and  love,  and  draw  us 
away  from  this  great  surrender.  It  is  im- 
portant for  us  to  know,  that  that  which 
draws  us  away  from  high  esteem  of  Christ, 
is  our  idol.  Every  irreligious  plea  is  falla- 
cious, and  none  is  more  so,  than  the  sug- 
gestion, that  we  shall  gain  in  happiness  by 
yielding  aught  to  the  world.  Ah  !  this  fell 
delusion  robs  God  and  his  service  of  half 
our  years !  O  that  it  were  deeply  graven 
on  our  souls,  that  the  secret  of  bliss  is  to 
give  up  all — yes  to  give  up  all.  It  is  the 
wholehearted  Christianity  which  rejoices  al- 
way.  Entire,  immediate,  unconditional,  abso- 
lute surrender — that  is  what  we  need.  If 
we  could  pour  a  river  of  Lethe  over  all 
the    past — if    we    could    forget    alike    the 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  283 

good  and  evil,  as  objects  of  pursuit  or 
matter  of  glorying — if  we  could  in  thought 
overleap  what  remains  of  time,  and  place 
ourselves  by  an  act  of  transcendant  faith 
before  our  coming  Lord — and  if  in  corres- 
pondence with  this  we  could  make  sacrifice 
of  all  things  in  order  to  be  swallowed  up 
in  the  glorious  ideal  of  Divine  beauty  pre- 
sented by  Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  that  would  be 
happiness,  second  only  to  the  beatific  vision ! 
What  would  cares,  losses,  crosses,  pains, 
languishings,  reproaches,  bereavements,  mor 
tal  diseases  be  to  a  soul  thus  captivated 
with  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Immanuel!  What  would  the  gaudy  shows 
of  wealth,  the  world's  entertainments,  amuse- 
ments and  rewards,  be  to  one  thus  enrich- 
ed! Keligion  thus  understood  and  experi- 
enced is  a  heritage  in  itself.  It  makes  the 
poor  rich;  it  turns  the  riches  of  the 
wealthy  into  dust.  Great  and  commanding 
faith,  to  bring  things  unseen  home  to  us 
with  a  realizing  power  is  what  we  need. 
We  should  strive  for  it,  and  pray  for  it. 
God.  sometimes  causes  this  treasure,  like 
molten  gold,  to  flow  freely  in  the  furnace 
of  affliction.     Bless  those  pains  amidst  which 


281  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

one  walks  with,  you,  like  unto  the  Son  of 
God.  Have  trials  held  off  for  a  long 
time?  Await  them  humbly.  When  they 
come,  the  experience  will  be  new  and 
searching  and  will  reveal  you  to  yourself. 
In  that  day  you  will  discover  that  common 
attainments  in  grace  are  not  sufficient  for 
the  dark  and  perilous  hour.  But  if  you 
are  Christ's,  the  sun  of  his  grace  will  rise 
above  your  tempestuous  horizon,  and  reveal 
a  new  heaven  of  peace. 

A  closing  reason  for  seeking  this  high 
attainment,  is  that  we  shall  thereby  greatly 
increase  our  influence  upon  unconverted 
persons  around  us.  Many  of  them  are  sa- 
gacious to  discern  that  our  religion  is  su 
perficial  and  inoperative.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  though  they  have  no  love  for 
a  strong  manifestation  of  ardent  piety,  they 
fear  it,  and  feel  its  influence.  The  presence 
of  true  godliness,  even  among  careless,  in- 
fatuated persons,  has  a  power  which  we 
are  apt  to  undervalue.  When  remarkable 
awakenings  take  place,  one  of  the  most 
constant  proximate  causes  is  a  visible  in- 
crease of  warmth  and  activity  on  the  part  of 
professing  Christians.     Hence  such   a  state 


ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS.  285 

of  things  is  called  a  revival  of  religion. 
Without  this  elevation  within  the  •church, 
no  measures  however  well-chosen  or  dili- 
gently plied  are  likely  to  have  much  effect. 
Let  me  seriously  implore  our  worldly 
friends,  not  to  judge  of  the  power  of 
Christianity,  from  what  they  witness  in  the 
present  condition  of  our  churches.  There 
are  vital  forces  which  slumber.  If  God 
speak  the  word,  an  army  shall  start  up, 
each  man  endued  with  strength  for  great 
encounters.  Shame  on  us,  brethren,  that 
we  should  have  to  take  such  apologetic 
ground  with  our  unreconciled  friends. 
Rather  should  we  be  able  to  say,  with 
Paul  (v.  16)  "Brethren,  be  followers  to- 
gether of  us."  Those  who  are  unconverted 
are  likely  to  remain  such,  until  there  be  a 
new  manifestation  of  primitive  fervour  in 
Christians.  While  we  are  making  few  in- 
roads upon  the  world,  the  world  is  making 
numerous  inroads  upon  us;  carrying  away 
weak,  yielding  professors  to  its  seductive 
amusements  and  carnal  conformities;  sepa- 
rating giddy  children  of  the  Church  from 
teachings  which  harass  their  conscience; 
lessening  the   aggressive  power  of  the   gos- 


286  ALL  THINGS  BUT  LOSS. 

pel  among  us;  and  breaking  down  barriers 
between  Christ's  flock  and  tlie  worshippers 
of  earthly  things.  All  which  should  lead 
us  to  importunate  prayer,  that  God  would 
visit  us  in  special  mercy.  "Wilt  thou  not 
revive  us  again,  that  thy  people  may  re- 
joice in  thee ! " 


XI. 

THE   MAN    CHEIST   JESUS. 


THE  MAN   CHRIST   JESUS. 


1  Tim.   2:5. 


"For    there    is    one  God,    and   one    mediator    between 
God  and  men,  the  man   Christ  Jesus." 

In  the  system  of  divine  truth,  the  hu- 
ruunity  of  Christ  should  be  as  fully  con- 
sidered as  his  Divinity ;  and  there  are  sea- 
sons when  it  is  important  to  bring  this 
precious  and  touching  doctrine  before  the 
direct  gaze  of  the  spiritual  understanding. 
The  proper  manhood  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is 
indispensable  to  his  mediatorial  character 
and  work.  Let  it  be  however  most  dis- 
tinctly noted,  in  the  outset  of  our  discus- 
sion, that  we  are  far  from  asserting  that, 
as  Mediator,  the  adorable  Redeemer  acts 
solely  as  man.  The  unique  constitution  of 
the '  blessed   Saviour  offers   itself   to    us    as 

an  ineffable   union  of  godhead  and  human- 
13 


290  THE   MAK   CHRIST  JESUS. 

ity  in  one  adoralble  Person.  The  two  na- 
tures are  distinct  but  inseparable,  conjoined 
but  not  confounded.  There  is  no  loss  of 
either,  but  both  are  blended  in  a  single 
personality.  The  Godhead  is  fully  and  for- 
ever God ;  the  manhood  is  purely  and  un- 
changeably man.  Properly  speaking,  Divin- 
ity is  not  turned  into  humanity,  nor  is 
manhood  so  taken  up  in  divinity  as  to  be 
absorbed  and  lost :  Eternal  godhead  abides, 
in  unparalleled  connexion  with  genuine, 
complete  and  sinless  humanity.  But  the 
Christ,  whom  we  believe  in,  love  and  wor 
ship,  is  everlastingly  One.  It  is  not  a  Di- 
vine Person  and  a  human  person,  brought 
into  the  state  of  a  twofold  being ;  but  the 
Word  made  flesh,  in  one  transcendent,  in- 
conceivable, but  most  precious  Personality. 
So  that  we  contemplate,  receive,  rest  in, 
and  commune  with  the  one  indivisible  Im- 
manuel. — In  consequence  of  which,  the  acts 
and  sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the 
work  of  our  redemption,  are  to  be  regard- 
ed as  proceeding  from  the  one  Lord  ;  even 
while  we  ascribe  part  of  the  work  more 
immediately  to  one  nature,  and  part  to  the 
other.     And  it  is  allowable  for  us  to  make 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  291 

this  distinction,  in  perfect  consistency  with 
the  single  view  of  our  Mediator  as  one 
person.     We   may  properly  look   sometimes 

On  THE  MANHOOD  OF  CHRIST  JeSUS,  AS  HAV- 
ING A  PECULIAR  EXCELLENCE,  AND  A  PECU- 
LIAR  EITNESS    TO    THE    WANTS    OF    OUR   NATURE. 

And  this  is  what  is  now  proposed,  in  ex- 
amining the  words  of  the  Apostle,  who 
sets  before  us  the  one  Mediator  between 
God   and  man,  the   man   Christ    Jesus. 

1.  As  men,  we  need  a  Mediator  who  is 
man,  to  bring  us  near  to  the  otherwise  in- 
accessible God.  The  Daysman,  who  shall 
lay  his  hand  upon  both,  must  be  partaker 
of  both  natures.  "Were  he  not  God,  he 
could  not  ascend  to  the  height  of  that 
infinitude,  from  which  sin  has  made  us  so 
remote.  But  were  he  not  man,  we  should 
be  left  still  as  far  from  the  supreme  God- 
head. The  High  Priest,  who  for  us  enters 
in  to  the  awful  splendors  of  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  goes,  so  to  speak,  from  among  our- 
selves. We  may  venture,  through  grace, 
to  follow,  when  He  who  leads  the  count- 
less retinue  of  sons  and  daughters,  himself 
was  born  of  woman.  When  Divine  Love 
would  save    the   lost   of  our   race,  it  is  not 


292  THE   MAN  CHRIST  JESUS. 

sufficient  for  his  condescension  to  stand 
afar  upon  the  heights  of  godhead,  and 
utter  decrees  of  favour.  He  stoops  to  our 
very  condition.  He  "becomes  bone  of  our 
bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh.  He  is  born, 
he  passes  through  infancy,  youth  and  man- 
hood. He  assumes  our  soul,  our  body,  our 
infirmities.  He  lives  as  men  live,  and 
anions:  his  chosen  brothers  of  our  race. 
He  learns  the  lesson  of  weariness,  want, 
pain,  grief,  groans  and  tears.  He  shares 
our  temptations,  involves  himself  in  our 
responsibilities,  and  lives  as  our  example. 
He  joins  in  our  devotion,  and  praises  and 
prays.  All  this,  while,  as  to  his  Divinity, 
he  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father.  The 
Word  was  with  God,  the  Word  was  God. 
Thus  joined  to  one  who  has  .made  him- 
self like  us,  we  may  ascend  even  to  the 
throne.  Here  is  the  mystic  ladder,  which 
joins  heaven  to  earth.  God  is  not  so  dis- 
tant, when  the  Son  of  God  is  also  the 
Son  of  Man.  Can  we  forego  the  precious- 
ness  of  this  sacred  truth ;  and  are  we  not 
emboldened  in  every  hope  and  every 
prayer,  when  Jesus  in  very  flesh  and 
blood,   allows   us   to    touch  his  hand,    even 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  293 

while  he  dwells    in    the   central    glory    of 
the   Godhead? 

1.  As  offenders,  we  need  a  mediator, 
hearing  the  nature  which  has  offended.  We 
are  not  only  men,  but  sinners ;  it  is  man 
who  has  incurred  wrath ;  it  is  by  man 
that  the  means  of  recovering  favour  must 
be  procured.  What  the  inmost  soul  craves, 
is  that  our  own  humanity  may  be  seen 
venturing  near  the  throne  of  insulted  Jus- 
tice. This  we  attain,  when  we  behold  by 
faith  that  there  is  One  like  unto  our- 
selves, who  has  right  of  access.  My  fears 
begin  to  be  dissipated,  when  I  regard  Je- 
sus, who  is  very  man,  carrying  up  the  plea 
of  condemned  humanity,  in  the  nature 
which  he  has  vouchsafed  to  assume;  and 
who,  though  not  a  sinner,  has  consented  to 
be  treated  as  a  sinner,  for  my  sake. 
Otherwise,  relief  and  pardon  would  be  only 
the  communication  of  a  sovereign,  divine  , 
decree,  and  the  boon,  even  if  possible, 
would  be  cold  and  distant.  But  surety- 
ship is  a  different  idea.  The  infinite  des- 
cent of  God's  compassion  is  to  the  taking 
of  our  very  nature.  The  Sponsor  is  our 
own.      He  has    passed  through    the    circle 


294  THE   MAK  CHRIST  JESUS. 

of  our  entire  liurnanity.  He  is  an  Elder  Bro- 
ther, the  nearest  of  kin,  the  Goel  of  type, 
the  Kedeemer  of  the  lost  inheritance,  the 
Head  of  the  Family,  transacting  for  his 
fellow-men.  Still  more  close  is  the  tie 
He  is  the  vital  Head,  in  union  with  the 
whole  body,  and  with  each  member  in 
particular.  For  "  the  Head  of  every  man 
is  Christ."  He  can  act  for  offenders,  when 
he  mingles  with  them,  and  adopts  all  that 
is   theirs,  except  their  personal   sinfulness. 

3.  We  need  as  Mediator  one  wlw,  as 
man,  oleys  that  Law,  whicli  was  given  to 
man.  The  human  race  was  originally 
formed  to  glorify  God,  by  perfect  conform- 
ity to  his  holy  will.  The  Law  was  ordain- 
ed as  the  standard  of  that  conformity 
From  this  great  intention,  the  race  fell,  in 
the  person  of  the  first  Adam.  It  is  only 
by  a  second  Adam,  of  nobler  powers  and 
more  exalted  dignity  that  the  original  pur- 
pose can  be  fulfilled.  Taking  the  lead  of  his 
people,  and  in  their  name,  he  became  sub- 
ject to  Law,  and  obeyed  it,  not  merely 
as  an  Example,  which  he  is,  in  the  high- 
est sense,  but  as  a  Representative.  "  When 
the    fulness    of    time   was   come,    God   sent 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  295 

forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  un- 
der the  Law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  un- 
der the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adop- 
tion of  sons."  It  was  necessary  that  this 
obedience  should  be  rendered  in  our  na- 
ture. By  a  divine  nature,  it  could  not  be 
rendered;  by  any  other  it  would  have 
been  unavailable  for  us.  But  now  we  be- 
hold the  Son  of  man,  as  Mediator,  stand- 
ing in  our  place,  and  by  obedience  pro- 
viding an  active  righteousness,  such  as  we 
should  forever  have  failed  to  render;  but 
which  becomes  ours  by  the  constitution  of 
grace.  And  that  which  Jesus,  as  the  Head 
of  Kecleemed  humanity,  accomplishes  of 
perfect  holiness  in  act,  as  the  spotless 
model,  he  will  according  to  the  measure 
of  each,  accomplish  in  every  one  of  them, 
when  the  work  of  grace  shall  be  complet- 
ed in  glory,  and  all  saints  shall  stand 
around  their  Lord  in  the  likeness  of  his 
perfect  excellency. 

4.  We  require  a  Mediator,  who  could 
endure  the  suffering  due  to  our  sins ;  and 
therefore  a  man.  Here  we  are  brought  at 
once  to  the  central  and  most  tender  part 
of    the    mediatory   work  —  to*  humiliation 


296  THE   MAN  CHRIST  JESUS. 

and   the    Cross.     aHe    made  himself  of   no 
reputation,    and    took   upon    him    the   form 
of  a  servant,  and    was    made    in  the    like- 
ness  of  men ;    and   beino:  found   in   fashion 
as  a  man,  he   humbled  himself,  and  became 
obedient    unto    death,    even    the    death    of 
the    Cross."      It    was    human     groans,    and 
cries,    and    tears    and     blood,    which    were 
forced     from     our    blessed    Saviour    in    his 
agony.      As    the    Head   and  Representative 
of    redeemed  humanity,    he    learned    obedi- 
ence    by    the     things    which    he     suffered. 
Death,  or  the  separation  of  soul  and  body, 
is    peculiarly  a   human   suffering ;    and    this 
he  endured.      He    died  for    our  sins.      He 
bore    the    penalty,  which  was  death,    as    a 
substitute.      The    edge    of    justice    pierced 
him,    in     his    spotless    manhood,    when    he 
stood   in    our  place.      This   had   been   typi- 
fied by  all  the  dying  victims  of  the  taber- 
nacle  and   temple,  which  taught  in  crimson 
characters,  during  the   Old  Testament  ages, 
that   "  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there 
is^no  remission."    Thus  the  curse  was  rolled 
away,  by  him   who   became   a  curse  for  us. 
Thus    Divine    justice    was    satisfied,  by   an 
expiation    offered    in    the     human     nature, 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  297 

united  to   the  Divine.     And  there   is  inex- 
pressible   comfort    to    the     wounded     con- 
science, in  contemplating  a  sacrifice  of  inno- 
cent and  exalted  manhood,  united  in  cove- 
nant to   our    own,    and    thus    opening    the 
way   for    the    further    transactions    of    our 
great   High    Priest   for  us,  within  the    vail 
of  the  visible  heavens,  whither  he  has  now 
gone,  bearing  his  own  peace-speaking  blood. 
5.  Faith  is  encouraged,  amidst   sin  and 
weakness,  by  seeing  one  transacting  for  us, 
who  is  himself  a  Man,  though  infinitely  ex- 
alted above  all  mere  men.     The  tie  is  real 
and  sensible.     The  gulf  between   the    crea- 
ture    and    the    Creator    is     bridged    over. 
When     otherwise    we    could    hardly    dare 
look  towards    the    sublime   heights   of    Di- 
vinity, we   are   reassured  by  the  invitations 
of  him,  who  is  God  incarnate.      It   is    this 
which    is     utterly  wanting    in    all    systems 
which   exclude  the  double   nature  of  Christ. 
The   gospel  assures  us,  that  since  the  ascen- 
sion of  our  Lord,  there  is   a  perpetual  pre- 
sentation  of    our    humanity    in  his  person, 
before   the   throne   of  the    infinite   Majesty. 
"  He   ever  liveth  to   make    intercession  for 
us."     And    though    the    human    nature    of 


298  THE   MAN   CHRIST  JESUS. 

Christ  is  locally  remote  from  us,  being  in 
heaven,  yet  it  is  made  near,  and  even  pre- 
sent, by  the  omnipresence  of  the  insepara- 
ble divinity.  "We  can  therefore  look  with 
lively  hope,  "within  the  vail,  whither  the 
Forerunner  is  for  us  entered,  even  Jesus, 
made   a   High   Priest  forever." 

6.  This  becomes  still  more  encouraging, 
when  we  remember,  that  the  humanity  of  the 
Mediator,  causes  him  to  excite  sympathy  to- 
wards our  human  infirmities.  "For  we 
have  not  a  High  Priest,  which  cannot  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmi- 
ties, but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like 
as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  In  our  com- 
mon bodily  trials,  it  is  a  sensible  relief, 
when  we  fall  in  with  those  who  have 
suffered  the  same  or  greater  jmins.  But 
unspeakably  more  comforting  is  it  to  re- 
cognize this  experience  of  weakness  and 
sorrow  in  him  who  is  mighty  to  help  as 
well  as  tender  to  pity.  He  was  the  man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief. 
There  is  not  an  affliction  of  our  nature, 
which  has  not  its  response  in  that  human 
heart  which  beats  within  the  shrine  of 
deity  above.     Here   opens  upon   us    a   field 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  299 

of  precious  Christian  experience,  which 
some  have  not  entered.  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  very  far  from  them.  They  rever- 
ence, perhaps  they  love  him ;  but  He  is 
not  to  them  the  compassionate,  the  sympa- 
thising Jesus  of  the  Evangelists;  he  who 
pitied  the  fainting  crowds — he  who  bent  in 
grief  over  the  dying  —  he  who  never  re- 
jected a  suppliant.  They  have  not  discov- 
ered in  him,  "  Jesus  Christ  the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day  and  forever."  They  have  not 
learnt  to  lean  on  him  as  the  personal 
friend,  and  to  pour  into  his  ear  the  burst- 
ing sorrows  of  the  heart.  Yet  here  is  the 
true  solace  in  affliction.  For  even  when 
we  approach  the  last  enemy,  and  begin  to 
shudder  at  the  pang  of  dissolution,  we  may 
be  encouraged  and  emboldened  by  the 
truth,  "that  as  the  children  are  partakers 
of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  like- 
wise took  part  of  the  same,  that  through 
death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil;  and  de- 
liver them  who  through  fear  of  death 
were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage." 
7.  We  have  a  Mediator,  by  whom  our 
human  nature  is   raised  to  its   highest   ex- 


300  THE  MAN  CHKIST  JESUS. 

altation.  If  treated  fully  this  would  en- 
gage us  in  a  copious  discussion,  being  one 
of  the  most  interesting  heads  of  theology. 
'No  reflective  mind  among  us  can  think 
without  a  thrill  of  pleasure  upon  the  per- 
fection of  humanity.  It  is  a  noble  ideal, 
which  has  entered  alike  into  the  dreams 
of  perfectibilian  philosophers,  and  the  more 
sober  visions  of  Christian  philanthropy.  In 
his  original  creation  man  was  a  faultless 
being,  of  wonderful  capacities;  and  we 
know  not  what  height  he  might  have 
reached,  of  knowledge,  beauty,  power  and 
bliss.  But  the  fair  image  was  broken  to 
pieces,  almost  on  issuing  from  the  mould. 
Still  the  craving  after  perfection  adheres 
to  the  shattered  creature.  But  all  the  ef- 
forts of  ages  have  failed  in  the  blind  at- 
tempt, and  man  lives  and  dies  imperfect 
and  miserable.  Shall  there  then  never  be 
any  realization  of  this  noblest  hope  ? 
There  shall.  The  Second  Adam,  the  Lord 
from  heaven,  has  carried  up  our  nature  to 
that  elevation  which  it  could  never  have 
attained  in  Eden,  or  even  in  glory,  with- 
out the  incarnation.  As  the  Head  of  the 
new    creation,    we    see   Jesus,    not    only  ex- 


THE  MAN   CHRIST  JESUS.  301 

alted  himself,  but  exalting  his  members. 
They  are  kings  and  priests  nnto  God  for- 
ever. "That  in  the  dispensation  of  the 
fulness  of  times  he  might  gather  together 
in  one  all  things  in  Christ ;"  Comprehend, 
if  you  can,  my  brethren,  "  what  is  the 
hope  of  his  calling,  and  what  the  riches 
of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the 
saints,  and  what  the  exceeding  greatness  of 
his  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  accord- 
ing to  the^ror^ing  of  his  mighty  power, 
which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at 
his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places." 
Inconceivable  is  the  glory  which  shall 
crown  redeemed  humanity,  by  its  union 
with  the  only  Mediator,  the  Man  Christ 
Jesus. 

8.  It  is  further  our  delightful  anticipa- 
tion, that  the  Mediator,  in  our  own  nature, 
is  to  he  our  final  Judge.  This  is  a  blessed 
hope  for  poor  humanity.  I  need  not  recite 
the  numerous  passages,  which  assure  us  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  shall  come  again  to  judg- 
ment, in  the  glory  of  the  Father,  with  the 
holy  angels  —  that  he  shall  sit  on  the 
throne   of   his  glory,  and  that  before    him 


302  THE   MAX   CHRIST  JESUS. 

shall  be  gathered  all  nations.  The  awful 
scene  has  often  occupied  your  thoughts. 
But  the  point  on  which  I  would  fix  your 
attention,  is,  that  He  will  then,  amidst  all 
the  blaze  of  accompanying  Deity,  be  visi- 
bly manifested,  as  the  Son  of  Man.  In 
the  nature  which  is  offended  he  will  judge 
the  offenders.  In  the  nature  which  he  has 
redeemed  and  exalted,  he  will  triumphantly 
absolve  and  save  his  chosen.  "  For  the 
Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  commit- 
ted all  judgment  unto  the  Son."  "  And 
hath  given  him  authority  to  execute  judg- 
ment also,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  Man." 
In  that  tremendous  hour,  it  will  not  be 
least  among  the  earnests  of  safety  and 
hope  that  He  who  sitteth  upon  the  august 
tribunal,  bears  our  very  nature ;  nay,  that 
he  is  our  Mediator ;  that  the  eye  which 
pierces  all  hearts  was  once  swimming  in 
tears  and  death  upon  the  cross,  and  that 
the  hand  which  holds  the  sceptre  of  irre- 
vocable sway  was  once  nailed  to  the  ac- 
cursed tree.  Amidst  the  consternation  of 
those  who  call  on  rocks  and  mountains  to 
cover  them  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb, 
the    humblest    believer,    catching    the    first 


THE   MAN   CHRIST  JESUS.  303 

lineaments  of  that  face  which  he  has  loved, 
and  now  gaining  his  first  true  sight  of  the 
countenance  for  which  he  has  longed,  will 
feel  the  perfect  love  that  casteth  out  fear, 
and  will  exclaim,  "  This  is  my  Beloved,  and 
this  is  my  friend  !" 

9.  What  remains  to  be  said,  but  that 
the  Mediator,  Christ  Jesus,  will  continue  to 
be  the  Head  of  redeemed  humanity,  through 
all  the  increasing  bliss  and  glory  of  Eter- 
nity. Here  it  becomes  us  to  use  especial 
caution.  It  was  not  necessary  for  our  ob- 
taining pardon  and  title  to  life  that  we 
should  know  in  its  mode  and  its  details, 
the  wonders  of  the  future  state.  And 
therefore  a  sovereign  reserve  is  employed, 
in  what  Scripture  sparingly  reveals  of  that 
rest.  As  if  the  love  of  God  intended  for 
his  frail  creature  a  series  of  transcendent 
surprises,  for  each  successive  stage  of  which 
the  soul  should  be  mercifully  prepared,  as 
it  is  born  into  new  states  of  rapture  and 
exultation.  And  therefore  we  know  not 
what  place  the  mediatorship  of  Christ  oc- 
cupies in  the  third  heaven.  But  this  we 
know,  and  have  learnt  from  childhood, 
that   "the    only    Redeemer   of    God's   elect, 


304  THE   MAN   CHEIST  JESUS. 

the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  being  the  eternal 
Son  of  God,  became  man,  and  so  was  and 
continueth  to  be,  God  and  man,  in  two 
distinct  natures,  and  one  person — forever." 
Here  then  is  our  humanity,  eternally  pres- 
ent in  heaven.  We  know  further  that  he 
is  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and 
that  he  ever  intercedes.  But  the  Scrip- 
tures afford  glimpses  of  mediatorial  agency, 
even  beyond  this.  More  of  that  coming 
state  was  disclosed  to  the  last  apostle,  the 
beloved  John,  than  to  any  other.  In  his 
apocalyptic  visions,  he  beholds  Him  on 
whose  bosom  he  had  reclined,  reappearing 
in  human  and  in  priestly  garb  —  one  like 
unto  the  Son  of  man,  clothed  with  a  gar- 
ment down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  the 
breast  with  a  golden  girdle."  His  voice 
speaks  of  humanity  and  death :  "  I  am  he 
that  liveth,  and  was  dead;  and  behold  I 
live  for  evermore."  Admitted  more  pro- 
foundly to  behold  the  worship  of  heaven, 
he  describes  a  sacrificial  emblem — "  a  Lamb, 
as  it  had  been  slain."  We  may  rest  in  the 
assurance  that  the  expiatory  work  is  not 
forgotten  there;  for  hearken  to  the  new 
song :    "  Thou   art   worthy  —  for   thou    wast 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  305 

slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy 
blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue 
and  people  and  nation,  and  hast  made  us 
unto  our  God  kings  and  priests ;  and  we 
shall  reign  on  the  earth."  Even  when 
fixed  in  their  unchangeable  possession,  the 
redeemed  sons  of  men  will  be  but  finite 
creatures,  and  will  need  a  mediation  of  in- 
carnate love  between  them  and  the  insuf- 
ferable fires  of  unapproachable  Deity.  Je- 
sus will  still  be  the  Head  and  Representa- 
tive of  his  glorified  people.  And  as  hu- 
man nature  goes  on  in  its  holy  develop- 
ment and  endless  exaltation,  who  shall  say 
that  the  union  with  the  mediatory  Lord, 
and  with  his  supreme  humanity  shall  not 
be  felt  in  a  thousand  ecstasies  of  near  af- 
fection and  gracious  kindred,  such  as  we 
are  unfit  now  to  conceive.  We  conclude 
therefore  that  the  mediatory  office  of  Christ's 
human  nature  shall  not  have  expired,  when 
not  only  our  souls  shall  more  resemble  his, 
but  when  these  vile  bodies,  raised  from  the 
dust,  and  exempted  from  infirmity,  pain  and 
corruption,  shall  be  fashioned  like  unto  his 
glorious  body. — Let  us  briefly  recapitulate 
our '  lessons :    As  men,  we  need  a   Mediator 


806  THE  MAN   CHRIST  JESUS. 

who  is  man,  to  bring  us  near  to  the  other- 
wise inaccessible  God;  as  sinners,  one  bear- 
ing the  nature  which  has  offended.  We  need 
a  Mediator,  who  as  man  obeys  that  law 
which  was  given  to  men ; — and  who  suffers 
the   penalty  due   to   sin. 

Amidst  weakness  and  iniquity,  Faith  is 
encouraged  by  seeing  one  transacting  for 
us,  who  is  himself  a  man.  As  man  he 
sympathizes  with  us  in  our  human  infirmities. 
By  such  a  Mediator,  our  humanity  is  raised 
to  its  highest  exaltation.  It  is  ground  of 
hope,  that  the  Mediator,  in  our  own  na- 
ture, is  to  be  our  judge.  And,  to  crown 
all,  the  Lord  Jesus  will  continue  to  be  the 
Head  of  ransomed  men,  through  all  the 
bliss  of  Eternity. 

Let  us  not  now,  my  brethren,  rest  in  the 
doctrine,  but  press  on  to  the  experience. 
If  you  have  assented  to  the  things  which 
have  been  spoken,  you  have  felt  that 
there  is  a  peculiar  privilege  in  having 
access  to  God  by  his  incarnate  Son.  Faith 
finds  grace  nearer,  when  it  approaches 
by  Christ's  humanity,  and  enters  through 
the  rent  vail,  that  is,  his  fiesh.  Mere  hu- 
manity could  offer  no    sufficient  support  for 


THE   MAN  CHEIST  JESUS.  307 

myriads  of  sinners ;  but  real  humanity, 
united  to  godhead,  becomes  the  stay  and 
salvation  of  all  who  believe.  The  great 
transactions  which  he  engaged  in,  bearing 
our  flesh  and  blood,  and  the  great  truths 
comprised  in  the  doctrine  of  his  mediation, 
are  the  proper  nourishment  of  the  new 
creature.  The  appropriation  of  these,  that 
is  of  Christ  himself,  by  faith,  is  compared 
to  the  taking  of  nourishment  by  food. 
Those  strange  words  in  the  6th  chapter 
of  John,  surely  mean  something,  even 
though  they  mean  not  what  popish  super- 
stition would  persuade  us.  And  whatso- 
ever they  mean,  connects  itself  with  the 
humanity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They 
tell  us  of  meat  (food)  encluring  unto 
everlasting  life ;  this  is  the  food  of  faith. 
They  tell  us  of  athe  bread  of  God — 
which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and 
giveth  life  unto  the  world."  This  bread 
is  the  Lord  Jesus,  received  by  faith.  "  I 
am  the  Bread  of  life,"  said  he ;  and  again, 
"  I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down 
from  heaven ;  if  any  man  eat  of  this 
bread,  he  shall  live  forever ;  and  the  bread 
that  •  I   will  give  is  my  flesh,  which    I  will 


308  THE   MAN  CHRIST  JESUS. 

give  for  the  life  of  the  world."  Is  it  not 
apparent,  that  the  human  nature  of  the 
Mediator  is  thus  immediately  connected 
with  our  salvation  ?  Is  it  not  equally 
manifest,  that  in  the  ordinance,  which  we 
are  met  to  celebrate,  we  have  communion 
with  the  human  as  well  as  divine  nature, 
of  the  one  Mediator  between  God  and 
men,  the  man.  Christ  Jesus  ?  "  This  is  my 
body,  broken  for  you  " — "  this  is  my  blood 
of  the  New  Testament  shed  for  many." 
These  words — "body  and  blood"  are  words 
which  savour  of  humanity.  It  is  a  human 
victim  which  bleeds  and  smokes  and  is 
consumed  upon  the  golden  altar  of  the 
godhead.  There  must  be  an  assumed  weak- 
ness, which  was  not  in  divinity,  in  order 
to  obedience,  suffering  and  merit.  And  we 
rejoice  in  every  human  trait  of  our  be- 
loved Saviour,  when  we  can  thus  draw 
near  to  him,  and  own  the  palpitation  of 
a  heart,  which  is  ours  at  the  same  time 
that  it  is  God's.  This  is  just  the  place, 
therefore,  where  we  recognize  the  precious- 
ness  of  the  doctrine  of  Incarnation.  Those 
who  deny  this  doctrine,  and  dignify  them- 
selves by  names    derived    from   that    unity 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS.  309 

of  God,  of  which  they  would  fain  be  the 
sole  defenders,  leave  a  mighty  chasm  in 
their  system.  They  say  much,  and  so  far 
as  it  goes  truly  of  the  humanity  of  Jesus. 
They  admit  his  immaculate  excellence,  dwell 
on  his  perfect  example,  and  celebrate  him 
as  the  chief  and  best  of  men.  But  they 
abide  in  the  outer  court,  among  Judaic 
shadows.  The  "  man  Christ  Jesus,"  viewed 
as  man  only,  is  after  all  one  who  stands 
on  the  same  level  with  ourselves.  He 
does  not  lift  us  up  to  God,  as  being  him- 
self, eternally  and  coequally  the  Son  of 
God.  His  sufferings  have  no  virtue  of 
infinite  merit,  derived  from  the  indwelling 
and  sustaining  divinity;  no  satisfying  right- 
eousness ;  no  expiatory  prevalence. 

We  also  plead  for  the  proper  and  full 
humanity  of  Messiah.  But  O  with  what 
different  emotions  do  we  receive  these  em- 
blems of  death,  when  we  are  assured  that 
the  "man  Christ  Jesus"  is  also  God  the 
Saviour!  In  our  moments  of  self-condem- 
nation, we  know  that  we  cannot  approach 
the  absolute  Deity,  without  this  interven- 
tion. Then  the  manhood  of  Christ  assumes 
its    just  place.     Then  we  are  certified,  that 


310  THE   MAN   CHRIST  JESUS. 

the  race  of  men  lias  a  way  of  entrance 
into  the  joys  of  complete  redemption; 
when  our  very  nature,  in  its  utmost  exalta- 
tion, goes  before,  and  ventures  on  covenant 
grounds,  into  the  mid  effulgence  of  the  in- 
comprehensible godhead.  There  are  mo- 
ments of  despondence,  weakness,  suffering 
and  dread,  when  the  tossed  soul  shrinks 
from  the  tempest  of  infinite  wrath.  Then 
the  declaration  of  Isaiah  is  made  good  to 
our  almost  shipwrecked  hope ;  that  "  a  man 
shall  be  as  a  hiding-place  from  the  wind, 
and  a  covert  from  the  tempest:"  And  the 
awful  utterances  of  Zechariah  echo  from 
the  sacramental  table :  "  Awake  O  sword, 
against  my  shepherd,  and  against  the  man 
that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
Come  then,  ye  who  know  your  weak- 
ness, and  who  fear  to  draw  nigh,  be- 
cause ye  are  men:  come  and  behold  man- 
hood embraced  in  the  mediatorial  work. 
Though  the  Table  is  not  an  altar,  to  use 
the  popish  phrase;  and  though  this  is  not 
a  sacrifice — we  may  learn  something  as  to 
the  mode  of  approach,  from  the  ancient 
rite — for  that  too  was  symbolical.  Come 
then,  as   in  Old  Testament  days   you  would 


THE   MAN"   CHRIST  JESUS.  311 

Lave  come,  heavy  laden  with  sin,  to  the 
unblemished  lamb,  laid  upon  the  altar  of 
burnt  offering.  As  you  would  have  laid 
your  hand  on  the  head  of  the  devoted 
victim,  so  lay  the  hand  of  faith  upon  the 
Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.  As  you  would  have  presented 
your  person,  to  be  sprinkled  with  typical 
blood;  so  let  your  heart  be  sprinkled  from 
an  evil  conscience  by  the  real  expiation. 
And  as  you  would  have  retired  from  the 
courts  of  the  temple  with  a  sense  of  abso- 
lution, so  go  down  from  this  solemnity, 
with  a  persuasion,  that  God  for  Christ's 
sake,  freely  pardons  all  your  sins.  Say  no 
more  that  we  make  little  of  the  humanity 
of  the  Mediator.  How  truly  human  are 
the  objects  presently  to  be  offered  to  our 
minds  !  Here  is  Jesus,  in  our  flesh,  weak, 
subject  to  law,  suffering  and  dying.  Here 
our  humanity  draws  strength  and  elevation 
from  his  humanity.  Here  we  find  it  sealed 
to  us,  that  as  men,  we  are  saved  by  him 
who  is  man.  And  all  in  correspondence 
with  the  fundamental  truth,  that  our  Re- 
deemer is  mighty,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel; 
the  Lord   of  hosts   is  his   name.     Nor  need 


312  THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS. 

you  suspect  mistake,  if,  avoiding  all  dis- 
tinctions, you  find  your  faith,  love  and 
adoration,  going  forth  to  that  One  glorious 
person;  who  "was  made  of  the  seed  of 
David  according  to  the  flesh;  and  declared 
to  be  Son  of  God  with  power,  according 
to  the  Spirit  of  holiness  (or  divine  nature) 
by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead." 


XI. 

PLENTEOUS   REDEMPTION 


PLENTEOUS    REDEMPTION. 


Psalm  130 :  7. 
■"and  with  him  is  plenteous  redemption." 


Among  all  the  beautiful  and  expressive 
figures  of  speech  used  in  the  Scriptures  to 
express  the  manner  of  our  deliverance, 
there  is  none  more  common  and  none 
more  touching  than  that  of  Redemption. 
In  ancient  times  when  slavery  was  contin- 
ually presented  to  view  as  immediately 
consequent  upon  war,  when  the  soldier  and 
even  the  commander  were  repeatedly  car- 
ried away  in  chains;  when  women  and 
children  followed  the  processions  of  tri- 
umph and  then  plunged  into  perpetual  ser- 
vitude; when  families  were  rent  asunder 
and   dearest  friends    sometimes    held    apart 


316         PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

in  remote  countries;  there  was  a  peculiar 
freshness  in  the  word  Redemption.  It  told 
of  ransom  to  be  paid  for  the  freedom  of 
a  beloved  kinsman;  a  father,  husband  or 
son;  of  buying  back — so  the  word  means 
— from  slavery;  of  delivering  from  merci- 
less oppression  and  bodily  fear.  All  the 
different  methods  of  deliverance  are  in  a 
general  way  called  redemption.  There  is 
the  strict  and  proper  ransom  or  price  laid 
down,  for  the  purchase  of  the  prisoner. 
There  is  the  free  and  sovereign  manumis- 
sion, in  which  the  master  is  the  redeemer 
by  an  act  of  gratuitous  emancipation.  There 
is  rescue  by  the  strong  hand  of  power,  as 
when  Abram  delivered  his  friends;  a  fig- 
ure often  employed  concerning  God's 
mighty  interposition.  There  is  the  method 
of  exchange  or  simple  permutation,  which 
is  usual  in  all  wars,  and  which  has  -  some 
striking  points  of  analogy  with  the  matter 
now  before  us.  Something  of  all  these 
methods  may  be  discerned  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul  by  Jesus  Christ;  He  sets 
us  free  by  his  sovereignty — he  delivers  us 
by  the  strong  hand — he  takes  our  place 
that  we  may  go  free.     But  the  radical  idea 


PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION.         317 

is  undoubtedly  that  of  proper  ransom,  as 
when  complete  satisfaction  is  made  by  the 
payment  of  a  debt.  And  it  is  only  by 
this  consideration  that  we  come  to  under- 
stand the  true  method  of  gospel  deliver- 
ance. 

The  condition  of  fallen  man,  under  his 
guilt  and  penalty,  at  once  justifies  the  ap- 
plication of  such  a  figure.  We  were  con- 
quered and  sold  under  sin,  carried  away 
captive  and  awaiting  further  pains:  we 
were  in  misery.  We  were  under  God's 
wrath  and  bound  over  to  punishment.  It 
was  by  our  fault ;  and  our  offence  bore  the 
double  character  of  debt  and  of  crime. 
We  were  insolvent  and  could  not  pay; 
we  were  sinners  and  could  not  satisfy. 
We  lay  in  chains,  both  of  justice,  holding 
us  for  execution,  and  of  moral  weakness 
and  perversion,  keeping  us  from  all  that  is 
good.  Death,  in  its  marvellous  depth,  of 
meaning,  temporal,  spiritual  and  eternal, 
had  begun  to  seize  upon  us.  Corruption 
and  misery — here  and  hereafter,  was  what 
we  had  to  look  for. — From  all  this  bond- 
age there  is  a  Deliverer.  His  deliverance 
is  a  ransom,  or  price  paid.     He   is   said  to 


318  PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

'redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law;7 
as  well  as  to  '  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity.' 
He  'redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us.7  He  're- 
deemed us  to  God  by  his  blood.'  He  laid 
down  his  precious  blood  as  the  ransom- 
price,  as  of  a  lamb  without  spot.  We  are 
'justified  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ.'  He  is  'made  unto  us  redemption.' 
He  has  obtained  for  us  '  eternal  redemp- 
tion.' Such  is  the  use  of  the  image,  and 
such  the  strain  of  Scripture  teaching,  upon 
this  tender  and  momentous  point ;  all  go- 
ing to  show  that  Redemption  imports 
nothing  -less  than  our  deliverance  from  all 
the  evils  of  the  fall,  by  the  incarnation 
work  and  sufferings  of  our  only  Mediator, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  All  the  redemptions 
and  all  the  sacrifices  of  the  old  Hebrews 
looked  to  this,  and  were  part  of  a  system 
of  preparations,  training  the  mind  of  God's 
people  to  expect  and  welcome  a  Deliverer 
of  this  kind.  Believers  under  the  Old 
Testament  did  not  indeed  perceive  these 
things  as  clearly  as  believers  under  the 
~New.  They  saw  in  the  future  a  Redeemer 
and    a    redemption;    but    they    saw    them 


PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION.  319 

dimly.  Some  were  no  doubt  more  favoured 
than  others  as  to  the  extent  of  these 
views.  Some,  like  Abraham,  beheld  Christ's 
day  and  rejoiced.  Some  like  Isaiah  saw 
Christ's  glory  and  spake  of  him.  Is.  6. 
John  12.  Prophets  and  Psalmists  discov- 
ered the  reddening  dawn,  where  the  great 
Luminary  was  one  day  to  arise.  Luke  2:25. 
They  waited  for  the   consolation   of   Israel. 

In  which   reason  we   are    justified 

in  giving  a  New  Testament  sense  to  Old 
Testament  expressions,  as  in  the  passage 
now  before  us.  So  to  interpret  them  is  no 
more  than  what  we  learn,  from  the  apos- 
tolic mode  of  citing  and  expounding  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets. 

In  the  text,  a  sin-burdened  soul  is  cry- 
ing out  to  God  from  the  uttermost  depths 
of  guilt  and  condemnation.  In  the  hope 
of  forgiveness  he  waits  upon  God,  and 
chides  himself  for  despondency.  "Let  Is- 
rael hope  in  the  Lord;  for  with  the  Lord 
there  is  mercy;  and  with  him  is  plenteous 
redemption."  This  is  the  single  point,  upon 
which  we   propose  to   fix  our  thoughts,  the 

PLENTEOUSNESS       OF      REDEMPTION,      WHICH      IS 

with   God.     But  here  it  becomes  necessary 


820         PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

to  look  into  the   exact   signification  of  the 
term. 

The  word  here  rendered  plenteous,  is 
used  in  the  original  with  much  latitude  of 
meaning,  to  express  every  variety  of  large- 
ness, whether  of  quantity  or  number.  To 
say  then  that  with  God  is  plenteous  re- 
demption, is  to  say  that  the  redemption 
which  is  by  Christ  Jesus,  possesses  an  un- 
bounded fulness.  And  it  is  this  riches  of 
grace,  which  we  are  now  about  to  contem- 
plate. 

I.    It    IS    PLENTEOUS    REDEMPTION,    BECAUSE 
OF     THE     GREATNESS     OF     THE     RANSOM     PAID. 

When  a  captive  was  freed  from  bondage 
by  payment,  the  greatness  of  the  sum  was 
a  prime  consideration,  and  when  this  was 
princely  the  promptitude  and  certainty  of 
the  deliverance  were  proportionally  marked. 
"The  redemption  of  their  soul,"  says  the 
Psalmist,  "is  precious,"  that  is,  of  great 
price  or  value.  We  were  redeemed,  not 
with  corruptible  things  such  as  silver  or 
gold,  but  with  the  blood  of  Christ.  There 
is  plenteousness  in  the  ransom  which  he 
has    offered.       There    was    nothing    in    the 


PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION.         321 

universe  more  valuable  than  what  Jesus 
laid  at  the  feet  of  infinite  Justice.  The 
obedience  of  the  Eternal  Son  of  God,  in 
the  place  of  sinners  was  a  tribute  to  the 
Divine  glory,  and  a  satisfaction  to  the  de- 
mands of  Law,  more  vast  than  could  have 
been  rendered  by  all  creatures.  The  death 
of  Christ,  as  a  victim  laid  on  the  altar,  in 
substitution  for  the  sinner,  together  with 
all  the  agonies  of  body  and  soul  which 
our  blessed  Saviour  endured,  constitutes  a 
sacrificial  payment  which  is  inestimable; 
and  which  God  cannot  refuse.  The  heart 
often  needs  this  as  the  basis  of  its  confi- 
dence. There  are  times  when  all  fails 
within  us,  till  we  look  heavenward,  and 
discern  the  Son  of  God  assuming  our 
debt,  and  claiming  our  deliverance,  on  the 
ground  that  he  has  made  full  restitution. 
On  this  head  our  views  may  be  allowed 
to  expand.  No  terms  can  exaggerate  the 
greatness  of'  the  Atonement.  It  is  infinite 
....  as  is  God  the  Son,  who  made  it. 
There  is  no  limit  to  its  value,  as  there  is 
none  to  the  Divine  nature.  The  type  fades 
away  when  we  compare  it  with  the  anti- 
type. "By  his  own  blood" — says  Paul, 
14* 


322         PLENTEOUS  EEDEMPTION. 

that  is  by  the  most  costly  oblation  in  the 
Universe,  "  Christ  entered  in  once  into  the 
holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemp- 
tion for  us."  The  blood  of  bulls  and  goats 
could  only  foreshadow  this.  The  sufficiency 
of  this  atonement  is  plenteous,  yea  infinite. 
If  any  perish  it  is  not  because  the  blood 
of  Jesus  had  not  sufficient  value,  or  be- 
cause enough  of  that  precious  blood  was 
not  shed.  And  this  is  the  great  everlasting 
rock,  which  underlies  the  whole  structure 
of  the  believer's  hopes.     Christ  is  worthy. 

II.    It    is   plenteous,   because    of    the 

WEIGHT  AND  NUMBER  OF  THE  SOEEOWS  AND 
PAINS      FEOM      WHICH      IT      FEEES      US.         The 

prisonhouse  of  the  captive  or  the  aban- 
doned slave  rises  before  us  as  the  figure. 
The  Scripture  instances  are  numerous,  where 
captivity  is  associated  with  suffering  and 
tears.  But  the  bondage  of  sinners  is  mani- 
fold; not  one  chain,  or  one  dungeon — but 
many.  These  are  all  so  many  penalties; 
they  proceed  from  sin.  The  troubles  of 
this  world,  to  an  unpardoned  soul,  are  but 
the  beginnings  of  sorrows.  All  the  dis- 
tresses, maladies   and  fears    of   the  present 


PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION.         323 

condition  are  only  foretastes.  Yet  they  are 
very  heavy,  and  a  redemption  which  de- 
livers from  them  all,  is  truly  plenteous.  It 
is  no  small  thing  to  be  rid  of  all  the  bit- 
terness which  belongs  to  an  unregenerate 
state  even  in  the  present  life;  espe- 
cially from  the  fear  of  death  and  of  God's 
displeasure,  the  torment  of  an  evil  con- 
science, the  anguish  resulting  from  unsub- 
dued and  conflicting  passions,  and  all  the 
temporal  consequences  of  sin.  But  what 
are  these  consequences  to  those  which  are 
eternal!  To  discern  the  latitude  and  amaz- 
ing comprehensiveness  of  our  redemption, 
we  must  be  able  to  draw  the  curtain  and 
gaze  into  the  eternal  future.  On  this  tre- 
mendous theme,  we  would  avoid  all  pro- 
fanely curious  imaginings  and  would  imitate 
the  reserve  of  Scripture.  But  after  all  our 
reservations,  there  come  to  us  sounds  of 
woe  and  glimpses  of  horror.  Were  not 
these  among  our  fears,  when  in  the  times 
of  our  alienation,  we  looked  forward  to 
Death  and  what  is  after  death?  to  the 
waste  illimitable  periods  (unless  there  be 
contradiction  in  the  terms)  through  which 
Eternal   retribution  expands  itself?       From 


324  PLENTEOUS   REDEMPTION. 

all  these  we  are  redeemed.  Yes,  iny  breth- 
ren, a  life  of  godless  anxiety  and  sorrow — 
a  subjection  to  Satan  —  a  death  without 
hope — a  judgment  of  annihilating  exposure 
forever — and  the  torments  of  the  unseen 
world  —  from  all  these  we  are  delivered 
by  the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  And  that  which  frees  us  forever 
from  all  pain,  in  its  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  shapes,  may  well  be  named 
"  plenteous  redemption." 

III.  It  is  plenteous  because  it  intro- 
duces TO  ALL  THE  ABUNDANCE  OF  INCON- 
CEIVABLE good.  It  were  something  to  be 
set  free  from  yokes  and  bonds  and  the 
prisonhouse  of  the  cruel  taskmaster.  It  is 
more  to  be  admitted  to  the  palace,  the 
home,  the  heart,  of  an  infinite  friend.  How 
shall  I  dare  to  open  such  a  prospect  or 
expatiate  upon  a  field  so  wide !  All  that 
is  good  in  earth  and  heaven  is  before  us — 
all  purchased  by  the  plenteous  ransom-price. 
When  God  saves,  it  is  in  a  way  like  him- 
self. He  is  not  content  to  pardon — he  jus- 
tifies— he  endows  with  right  to  life.  The 
Son  is  not  only  seen  afar  off,  and  met,  and 


PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION.         325 

admitted;  lie  is  kissed,  clothed,  beautified 
and  feasted.  The  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife 
is  not  merely  freed  from  the  cords  and 
humiliations  and  duress  of  her  long  cap- 
tivity; she  is  decked  with  jewels,  and  in- 
stalled in  all  the  royalties  of  her  Divine 
Husband.  The  slave  is  lifted  to  a  throne. 
She  who  was  wooed  by  the  Son,  and  who 
loved  and  chose  him  in  his  low  estate,  is 
openly  acknowledged  on  the  throne  before 
all  worlds,  as  she  for  whom  he  died.  The 
blessings  of  the  present  Christian  life  are 
plentiful;  but  they  are  only  the  clusters  of 
Eshcol,  and  not  the  vintage.  Here,  even 
on  this  side  the  river,  are  there  the  joys 
of  pardon,  the  spirit  of  adoption,  in  many 
the  assurance  of  God's  love,  power  over 
the  world,  perseverance  in  grace,  the  grad- 
ual but  certain  augmentation  of  inward 
holiness,  the  ripe  fruits  of  knowledge,  the 
heavenly  wine  of  communion,  the  delights 
of  devotion,  the  lifting  up  of  soul  in  psal- 
mody and  praise,  the  fellowship  of  mutual 
love,  the  antepast  of  glory,  and  the  serene 
departure  to  full  emancipation.  And  then, 
on  the  other  side,  angelic  welcome,  triumph 
in  the   Judgment,  the   sight  of  the  Son  of 


326  PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

man  in.  his  glory,  acquittal  by  his  voice,  a 
place  at  his  right  hand,  a  seat  on  his 
throne,  an  eternal  vision  of  his  infinite  and 
divine  beauty.  For  this,  and  unto  this, 
we  are  redeemed;  and  is  it  not  then, 
plenteous  redemption  ? 

IV.  It  is  plenteous,  because  of  its 
enduring  nature.  This  fountain  flows  for- 
ever. Great  benefits  become  small,  if  they 
abruptly  terminate.  Small  blessings  seem 
vast,  if  extended  to  eternal  permanence. 
But  here  is  a  good,  intrinsically  great,  yet 
running  on  forever  and  ever.  We  have 
already  found  in  Scripture  that  the  blessing 
is  called  "eternal  redemption,"  and  this  is 
plenteous  indeed.  "When  we  shall  have  set 
sail  upon  that  ocean  which  has  no  further 
shore,  upon  that  blessed  voyage  which  has 
no  return,  we  shall  look  back  upon  the 
sum  of  all  joys  of  all  creatures  during  the 
moment  of  what  we  call  time — as  utterly 
insignificant  in  comparison.  Between  finite 
and  infinite  there  can  be  no  proportion. 
When  ages,  equalling  the  aggregate  of  all 
sidereal  measures,  shall  have  run  out,  Eter- 
nity will  be   in  its    early   beginnings.       'No 


PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION.         327 

waste  shall  ever  diminish  the  riches  of 
heaven.  Every  moment  of  its  high  enjoy- 
ment will  refer  itself  to  the  great  original 
price.  Among  the  countless  throng  of  them 
that  are  saved,  each  will  look  back  with 
wonder  and  thanks  to  the  work  of  Calva- 
ry; and  each  new  revolution  of  bliss  will 
only  serve  to  reveal  new  values  in  the  re- 
deeming price  which  was  laid  down  by 
Immanuel.  Of  a  sinless  Eternity  with 
Christ,  we  had  better  not  attempt  to  speak ; 
for  not  only  words,  but  conceptions  fail  us. 
Yet  our  knowledge,  faint  and  mostly  nega- 
tive as  it  is,  is  enough  to  show  us  that 
the  stores  of  grace  are  boundless.  Can 
such  celestial  glories  be  for  creatures  sul- 
lied with  multitudinous  sins,  any  one  of 
which  cries  to  heaven  for  vengeance  ?  We 
answer 


V.  It  is  plenteous  redemption,  be- 
cause ITS  ABUNDANT  EULNESS  BEACHES  TO 
THE  REMISSION  OF  ALL  SINS,  HOWEVER  IN- 
TENSE or  multiplied.  Here  is  the  hope  of 
the  prodigal.  See  our  context:  "he  shall 
redeem  Israel  from  all  his  iniquities."  But 
for  this,  redemption  would  not  deserve  the 


328         PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

name.  It  is  sin,  which  caused  captivity; 
and  sin  must  be  expiated,  before  there  can 
be  emancipation.  This  was  the  reason,  why 
the  great  redemptive  act  stands  before  us 
in  colors  of  blood.  The  call  is  loud  and 
significant:  "though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet 
they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow,  though 
they  be  red  like  crimson  they  shall  be  as 
wool."  From  all  his  iniquities!'  It  is  the 
word  of  God  which  tells  us,  that  the  "blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  from  all 
sin."  The  blotting  out  of  guilt  is  absolute 
and  has  no  exception:  "their  sins  and 
their  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more." 
In  their  penal  quality;  they  are  as  though 
they  had  never  been.  The  debt  is  paid. 
Christ  has  assumed  all  our  liabilities.  They 
are  no  longer  reckoned  against  us.  "He 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  It  is 
this  completeness  of  redemption,  surg- 
ing over  all  the  mountains  of  our  sins, 
which  magnifies  the  grace  of  the  Gospel. 
This  infinite  fulness  reaches  all  sins,  the 
greater  as  well  as  the  less,  covering  and 
removing  all  the  guilt  of  each.  Look  back 
over    one    single    lifetime — your    own — and 


PLENTEOUS  KEDEMPTION.  329 

see  what  remission  means!  Meditate  on 
(for  yon  cannot  survey)  that  lifetime  of 
sinning  which  spreads  its  lengthened  line 
back,  back  to  the  very  origin  of  moral 
action.  The  current  of  act  and  word  and 
feeling  and  thought  has  had  its  character 
for  good  or  evil  in  each  particular  wave. 
Individual  sins  have  been  forgotten;  thou- 
sands have  been  forgotten.  Yet  oblivion 
has  not  blotted  out  the  record  or  washed 
away  the  guilt.  Your  memory  of  these 
transgressions  and  omissions  is  perhaps  dim; 
but  your  accountability  for  each  is  as  fresh 
and  perfect  as  if  it  Lad  this  instant  issued 
from  your  volition.  Among  the  huge  in- 
discriminate tumble  of  waves  which  dash 
in  as  breakers  upon  the  shore  of  thought, 
you  may  recall  here  and  there  one  of 
extraordinary  violence.  "But  who  can  un- 
derstand his  errors" — his  secret  faults — his 
presumptuous  sins !  The  more  we  gaze 
upon  them,  the  more  numerous  do  they 
seem;  as  the  stars,  when  one  begins  to 
count  them  up.  It  is  a  sense  of  this  ex- 
traordinary number  of  sins,  each  possessing 
its  separate  turpitude,  which,  at  the  time 
of  genuine  awakening,  leads  to   fearful  con- 


330  PLENTEOUS  KEDE.MPTION. 

viction;  while  the  soul  stands  aghast  and 
cries,  "If  thou  Lord  shouldst  mark  iniquity, 
O  Lord,  who  could  stand?"  This  it  is 
which  makes  pardon  hard  to  be  believed. 
And  all  through  the  Christian's  life,  it  is 
the  recollection  of  innumerable  iniquities, 
which  humbles  the  soul  in  the  dust,  pre- 
venting its  ever  daring  to  look  up  into 
the  face  of  Infinite  Purity  with  any  feeling 
of  complacency.  Now  all  these  long  con- 
tinued and  multiplied  sins  are  forever  cov- 
ered and  removed  as  to  their  guilt  by 
the  fulness  of  redemption.  No  single  sin 
remains  unforgiven;  for  if  there  were  such, 
it  would  cut  off  all  hope. — Now  as  this  is 
true  in  regard  to  any  given  sinner  and  his 
offences,  so  it  is  true  of  all  manner  of 
sins,  even  the  most  atrocious,  if  only  they 
be  brought  to  the  fount  of  healing.  The 
unpardonable  sin  itself,  we  hold  to  be  such, 
only  because  (by  its  very  nature)  it  is  not 
so  brought.  Could  so  impossible  a  thing 
be  conceived,  as  that  it  should  be  so 
brought,  it  would  be  forgiven.  "All  man- 
ner of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven 
unto  men."  Final  impenitence  destroys, 
simply   because    it   is    a    final    rejection   of 


PLENTEOUS  KEDEMPTION.         331 

redemption.  The  redemption  itself  is  good, 
for  all  sins,  even  the  greatest.  "This  is  a 
faithful  saying  &e."  "When,  under  the  ago- 
nies of  remorse,  a  sinner  near  despair 
thinks  none  have  ever  sinned  as  he  has 
sinned,  and  declares  that  he  is  too  vile  to 
be  forgiven  (and  little  as  hardened  hearts 
conceive  of  such  compunction  or  fear,  the 
experience  is  not  uncommon)  in  so  saying 
he  betrays  total  ignorance  of  the  value  of 
Christ's  blood,  and  the  sovereign  fulness  of 
his  grace.  There  are  but  two  classes  of 
souls,  and  two  conditions;  those  that  are 
saved  and  those  that  are  lost:  "  he  that 
believeth  shall  be  saved — he  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned." — This  abundance  of 
redemption  spreads  its  stores  for  all  sin- 
ners. There  is  no  one  within  the  sound 
of  the  gospel  who  is  excluded.  As,  accord- 
ing to  what  has  been  said,  the  ransom- 
price  is  infinite,  so  the  offer  is  infinite. 
Our  commission  runs  thus:  'Go  ye  into 
all  the  world — with  this  good  news  to 
every  creature.'  Every  creature  then  is 
comprehended  within  the  arms,  of  the  offer 
and  the  possibility  of  salvation.  There  is 
no  need  for  Christ    to  die  again — to   make 


332         PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

redemption  accessible  to  more  thousands, 
even  of  those  who  shall  eventually  perish ; 
nor  any  need  of  a  new  gospel-offer,  if  all 
the  world  should  be  saved.  We  need 
nothing  ampler,  we  can  conceive  of  nothing 
wider,  than  the  tender  mercies  of  our 
God,  "for  with  him  is  plenteous  redemp- 
tion." If  this  could  be  brought  home  to 
thee,  poor  lingering  sinner,  it  would  be 
this   hour  the   salvation   of  thy  soul. 

VI.  Finally,  this   is   plenteous   redemp- 
tion,   BECAUSE      OF     THE      FREENESS      OF      THE 

offer.  We  call  that  a  plentiful  feast, 
where  the  provisions  are  not  only  abun- 
dant, but  offered  to  all  comers,  and  for 
nothing.  Such  is  the  gospel — such  is  grace, 
by  its  very  name,  gratuity.  "  Grace,"  says 
Rutherford,  "  is  mercy  given  for  nothing." 
He  that  annexes  any  price,  however  small, 
vacates  the  covenant  of  its  grace.  Price 
has  indeed  been  paid,  perfect  amends  have 
been  made  to  Divine  Justice,  but  by  the 
Lamb  of  God,  and  not  by  the  sinner. 
"  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to 
the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money, 
come  ye,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money 


PLENTEOUS  EEDEMPTION.         333 

and  without  price."  It  was  the  Law, 
which  made  meritorious  conditions,  the 
Gospel  is  a  free  offer,  which  becomes  avail- 
able on  simple  believing.  The  righteous- 
ness by  which  we  are  justified,  is  not  some- 
thing which  we  work  out,  but  something 
bestowed  on  us  as  a  gift.  It  addresses 
all  transgressors,  however  vile,  in  a  mass, 
with  words  of  cheering.  "  For  all  have 
sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God ;  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  the  plenteous  redemption.  Christ's 
perfect  righteousness,  as  a  resplendent  robe, 
is  hung  out  from  heaven,  for  the  free  ac- 
ceptance of  all  sinners  under  the  gosiDel. 
And  it  is  given — not  to  him  who  works 
most  faithfully,  according  to  legal  rule, 
"but  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  be- 
lie veth  on  Him  that  justifieth  the  ungod- 
ly." Eom.  4:5.  It  does  indeed  seem  a 
great  thing  to  the  believing  sinner,  for 
such  magnitude  and  multitude  of  sins  to 
be  forgiven  without  his  personal  repara- 
tion, but  when  his  eyes  fix  on  the  person 
and  .work  of  Christ,  he  sees  how  it  can 
be   accomplished,  and  understands   how   the 


334  PLENTEOUS  EEDEMPTION. 

greatest  honour  he  can  confer  on  God  is 
to  be  saved  by  God's  method,  "  to  the 
praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  wherein 
he  hath  made  us  accepted  in  the  Beloved." 
Having  reached  this  point,  he  staggers  not 
at  the  promise  of  God  through  unbelief; 
but  is  "  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to 
God."  There  is  no  presumption  in  so  be- 
lieving; for  it  is  only  taking  God  at  his 
word,  accrediting  his  promise,  honouring 
his  attributes,  and  glorifying  his  Son.  It 
was  this  doctrine  of  free  justification  by 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  imputed  to  us, 
and  received  by  faith,  which,  when  revealed 
to  Luther,  rose  on  his  soul  like  a  sun  in 
the  heavens.  It  was  the  germinating  prin- 
ciple of  all  the  Reformation  doctrine.  It 
is  this  day,  what  Luther  called  it,  articu- 
lus  stantis  aut  cadentis  ecclesice.  Where  it 
is  held  firmly,  preached  and  believed,  there 
strong  and  cheerful  piety,  justly  named 
evangelical,  is  found  to  prevail.  Where  it 
is  denied,  or  corrupted,  or  curtailed,  error 
after  error  creeps  in,  and  the  cordial  es- 
sence of  the  gospel  is  forever  lost.  On 
no  one  point  do  faithful  ministers  of  the 
gospel  more   feel  their  own  weakness,  than 


PLENTEOUS  KEDEMPTION.         335 

when  they  argue  and  plead  with  a  con- 
vinced sinner,  in  behalf  of  the  freeness  of 
salvation.  Clear  as  it  is  in  the  Word,  it 
is  all  dark  to  the  condemned  soul.  No 
reasoning,  no  citation,  no  rehearsal  of  cases, 
no  asseverations,  no  entreaties,  can  move 
him  an  inch  from  the  self-righteous  shoal 
on  which  he  is  stranded,  or  dispossess  him 
of  the  prejudice  that  he  must  fulfil  some 
condition  before  he  comes  to  Christ.  Here 
the  preacher  or  teacher  sits  down  discom- 
fited if  not  dismayed.  But  then,  on  the 
other  hand,  at  no  one  point  does  the  same 
guide  of  souls  more  recognise  and  adore 
the  illuminating  Spirit  of  God,  than  when 
he  sees  all  this  made  clear,  sometimes  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  to  the  hitherto 
unbelieving  mind.  The  blind  man  looks 
up  into  the  face  of  his  Saviour!  He  be- 
holds him  able  —  and  as  willing  as  able. 
He  falls  at  his  feet,  without  waiting  for 
terms  or  conditions.  Free,  full,  sovereign 
grace,  abounding  to  the  chief  of  sinners, 
has  overcome  every  scruple.  He  knows 
and  feels  that  he  can  be  saved ;  not  in 
consequence  of  changes  of  which  he  is  con- 
scious  within  himself — but    simply  on   the 


336         PLENTEOUS  REDEMPTION. 

ground  of  GocVs  uttered  promise,  which  lie 
accepts.  I  will  not  say,  lie  ventures  on  it ; 
there  is  no  peradventure  in  the  case.  His 
language  is,  "  Let  God  be  true  and  every 
man  a  liar ;"  or  with  our  Psalmist,  "  Let  Is- 
rael hope  in  the  Lord :  for  with  the  Lord 
there  is  mercy,  and  with  him  is  plenteous 
redemption." 

Nothing,  my  brethren,  but  infinite  love 
could  be  the  fountain-head  of  so  immeasur- 
able a  blessing.  It  sprang  in  the  eternal 
heart  of  God,  and  flowed  out  in  the  Incar- 
nation. The  multitude,  the  copiousness  of 
Divine  grace  and  mercy  must  be  sought  in 
the  person  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  God  is 
love ;  yea  rather,  speaking  now  of  God 
manifest,  Christ  is  Love.  And  although  all 
his  history  is  one  display  of  saving  benevo- 
lence, we  behold  its  concentration  in  his 
Cross  and  passion.  The  Atonement  by  sac- 
rifice it  is,  which  reveals  to  us  the  great- 
ness of  divine  compassions.  As  he  hangs 
on  the  accursed  tree,  in  his  last  moments, 
between  two  malefactors  already  dead,  he 
exhibits  to  us  the  token  of  cleansing. — 
"  One   of  the   soldiers   with  a  spear  pierced 


PLENTEOUS   KEDEMPTIOK  337 

his  side,  and  forthwith  came  there  out  blood 
and  water.  And  he  that  saw  it  hare  re- 
cord, and  his  record  is  true  :  and  he  know- 
eth  that  he  saith  true,  that  ye  might  be- 
lieve." That,  concerning  which  the  Beloved 
Disciple  testifies,  is  the  double  fount  of 
plenteous  redemption.  Brethren  and  sisters, 
we  are  gathering  around  the  same  open 
side  and  flowing  heart,  which  left  indeli- 
ble impression  on  John.  Here  is  expia- 
tion, to  remove  the  debt,  liability  or  guilt 
of  sin :  here  is  cleansing,  to  take  away 
its  power,  stain  and  indwelling  pollution. 
Many  years  after,  the  same  John,  remem- 
bering the  same  pierced  side,  thus  writes, 
(5:6:)  "  This  is  he  that  came  by  water 
and  blood,  even  Jesus  Cheist  ;  not  by  wa- 
ter only,  but  by  water  and  blood."  And 
he  adds,  "  There  are  three  that  bear  wit- 
ness in  earth,  the  spirit,  and  the  water, 
and  the  blood,  and  these  three  agree  in 
one."  The  same  abundance  of  grace  is 
witnessed  by  our  commemorative  ordinance. 
Here  the  sacred  side  of  Jesus  is  pierced 
in  emblem;  the  body  is  sacramentally 
broken,  the  blood  is  sacramentally  spilt. 
"This  cup,"  saith  He,  "is  the  New  Testa- 
15 


338  PLENTEOUS   REDEMPTION. 

ment  in  my  blood,  shed  for  many  for  the 
remission  of  sins."  The  Covenant  of  Grace, 
sealed  by  this  ordinance,  tenders  and  exhi- 
bits the  plenteons  redemption.  We  are 
vile — but  divine  love  is  infinite,  and  divine 
pardons  are  sure,  to  every  one  that  believ- 
eth.  Though  like  David  you  cry  out  of 
the  depths,  unable  to  answer  for  your  in- 
iquities, yet  you  can  say,  beholding  these 
pledges,  "I  wait  for  the  Lord,  my  soul 
doth  wait,  and  on  his  word  do  I  hope. 
My  soul  waiteth  for  the  Lord  more  than 
they  that  watch  for  the  morning,  I  say, 
more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morn- 
ing."     (5,  6.) 


XII. 

CHRIST'S    CROSS    AND    CROWN. 


CHRIST'S   CROSS   AND   CROWK 


Revelation  19  :  12,  13. 

"His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  on  his  head 
were  many  Growns ;  and  he  had  a  name  written  that  no 
man  knew,  but  he  himself.  And  he  was  clothed  with  a 
vesture  dipped  in  blood :  and  his  name  is  called  the  Word 
of  God." 

1.  There  is  a  day  coming,  when  in  con- 
sideration of  Christ's  bloodshedding  and 
death  he  shall  triumph  and  reign  with 
his  beloved  church.  The  book  of  the 
Apocalypse  is  chiefly  concerned  in  the 
great  warfare  and  victory  of  the  glorious 
future,  and  yet  have  you  not  observed,  my 
brethren,  how  often  in  this  gorgeous  pano- 
rama of  prophetic  imagery,  there  are 
brought  out  fully  into  view  some  tokens 
and  signal  remembrances  of  the  humilia- 
tion and  atonement?  In  the  very  crown 
we   are   made   to  see  the  cross,  and  are  re- 


842  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

minded  that  it  is  because  he  made  him- 
self of  no  reputation,  that  "  God  hath 
highly  exalted  him  !w  Early  in  the  book, 
(1:5,)  the  ascription  is  to  "  him  that 
loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in 
his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings 
and  priests;"  here  is  both  the  humiliation 
and  the  exaltation.  Again  (5 : 6)  John 
beholds,  and  "  lo,  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne,  and  of  the  four  living  ones,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  elders,  stood  a  lamb 
as  it  had  been  slain."  Here  is  the  pro- 
pitiation enthroned  in  the  very  heart  and 
central  spot  of  heaven :  blood  upon  the 
very  throne ;  the   cross   and   the   crown. 

The  song  of  the  living  ones  and  elders, 
prostrate,  with  harps  and  odors  (5:8)  is, 
"  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood — and  we  shall  reign  on 
the  earth :"  here  again  suffering  and  glory. 
And  then  the  praise  is  caught  up  by  all 
creatures,  "  unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb,  forever  and 
ever."  The  throng  in  white  robes  (7  :  13) 
serving  God  day  and  night  before  the 
throne,  are  such  as  "  have  washed  their 
robes   and  made   them  white   in  the  blood 


Christ's,  cross  and  crown.  343 

of  the  Lamb."  The  brethren  who  are  vic- 
torious over  Satan  (12 :  11)  are  said  to 
overcome  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  ■ 
It  is  the  Lamb,  (14  : 1,)  who  stands  on  Mount 
Sion,  with  one  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand, 
having  his  Father's  name  written  in  their  fore- 
heads. The  spirit  of  all  these  declarations  is 
the  same.  The  Mercy-seat  is  not  forgotten 
in  the  latter  glory,  but  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant reappears  in  heaven.  Jesus  can  ago- 
nize no  more ;  he  can  be  arrested  no 
more ;  no  more  can  his  garments  be  rent 
from  him,  to  be  replaced  by  the  mockery 
of  purple,  diadem  and  sceptre;  no  more 
can  he  be  slapped  {pam^(S)  in  the  face, 
hoodwinked  and  spit  upon ;  no  more  can 
he  be  torn  with  Roman  scourges,  and 
nailed  to  the  cursed  cross.  No  pang  does 
he  carry  to  heaven.  Yet,  in  heaven,  he  is 
other  than  he  would  have  been,  but  for 
the  garden,  the  pretorium  and  "the  place 
of  a  skull."  There,  amidst  his  loved  and 
redeemed  ones,  amidst  a  multitude  of  the 
heavenly  host,  on  the  supreme  throne, 
Christ  still  bears  the  tokens  of  a  sacri- 
ficial death ;  and  even  when  he  comes  up 
to  victory  and   vengeance,   he  is   red  in  his 


344 

apparel,  and  his  "garments  like  him  that 
treadeth  in  the  winefat."  (Is.  63:2.)  No 
eye  shall  look  upon  the  Beloved  in  para- 
dise, without  recognising  him  as  the  Man 
of  Sorrows,  and  the  familiar  of  grief. 
(Is.    53.) 

2.  Christ's  triumph  and  reign  are  in 
consideration  of  his  death.  One  is  the 
purchase  of  the  other.  He  "  became  obe- 
dient unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross ;  wherefore  also  God  hath  highly  ex- 
alted him,  and  given  him  a  name  which 
is  above  every  name."  (Phil.  2  : 9.)  Such 
was  the  engagement  before  all  worlds. 
"When  his  soul  shall  make  an  offering 
for  sin,  he  shall  see  his  seed — because  he 
hath  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death  — 
therefore,  says  Jehovah,  I  will  divide  him  a 
portion  with  the  great,  and  he  shall  divide 
the  spoil  with  the  strong."  (Is.  53.)  It  is 
because  he  suffered,  that  he  reigns.  That 
suffering  was  penal  and  vicarious.  It  could 
not  otherwise  have  fallen  on  him.  The 
suffering  was  for  others :  the  recompense 
also  is  for  others.  Christ  reigns  and  re- 
joices in  his  people.  They  accompany  his 
triumphal   progress  and  share  in  his  throne. 


345 

It  is  because  of  this  that  he  comes  even  to 
the  marriage  supper,  with  a  vesture  dipped 
in  blood.  The  mediatorial  exaltation  of  Je- 
sus Christ  is  all  in  consequence  of  his  me- 
diatorial humiliation :  and  this  is  one  reason 
why  we  rejoice  and  exult  in  his  bliss  and 
glory,  because  it  is  the  fruit  of  his  agony. 
The  honor  done  to  God's  justice,  by  Christ's 
death,  is  the  cause  of  jubilee  in  heaven.  It 
is  this  only  which  has  bought  back  the 
body  of  disciples  from  hell.  The  whole 
mystery  of  redemption  is  in  these  words, 
which  are  this  day  translated  into  the  lan- 
guage of  bread  and  wine,  Christ  hath  died. 
3.  It  is  the  blood  and  dying  of  Jesus 
Christ  which  subdues  the  believing  soul  in 
order  to  the  eventual  triumph.  Of  all 
those  multitudes,  every  one  came  in  the 
same  way.  Each  yielded  at  the  cross. 
He  could  brave  Sinai ;  but  there  was  that 
on  Calvary,  which  unmanned  him,  and  he 
yielded  to  triumphant  Love.  When  a  soul 
believes,  that  single  act  cuts  it  off  from 
ten  thousand  things  at  once,  and  joins  it  to 
Christ.  "This  is  the  victory  that  overcom- 
eth  the  world,  even  our  faith."  What  is 
faith,  but  a  reception  of  this  bleeding 
15* 


346  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

atonement  ?  Faith  looks  on,  and  goes  out 
to,  this  very  dying.  Here  is  the  sublime 
moral  influence  of  the  Cross.  Besides  si- 
lencing all  the  batteries  of  divine  justice, 
and  procuring  pardon  of  sin,  it  subdues 
that  soul,  by  the  infinite  weight  of  Christ's 
love — "  which  passeth  knowledge."  Before 
Messiah  conquers  the  earth  and  the  uni- 
verse ;  before  he  rules  them  with  a  rod 
of  iron  and  treadeth  the  "  winepress  of  the 
fierceness  and  wrath  of  God;"  before  the 
doxology,  "  Alleluia,  for  the  Lord  God  om- 
nipotent reigneth "  —  there  is  a  private 
work  to  be  wrought  on  each  individual 
soul,  and  this  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Beholding  this  mighty  love  of  God,  the 
sinner  melts  and  yields  and  weeps  and  is 
forgiven.  When  the  Lord  sues,  by  his 
pierced  hands  and  crimson  apparel,  he  can- 
not be  denied.  This  winning  of  the  soul 
is  in  the  day  of  first  love  and  espousals 
on  earth.  But  it  all  makes  way  for  the 
lofty  scene  set  before  us  in  the  context : 
this  hour  is  that  of  consummate  union: 
"  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come, 
and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready." 
(v.    7.)     O  brethren !    the    day    is    coming 


chkist's  cross  and  crown.  347 

when  we  shall  be  among  "  a  great  multi- 
tude which  no  man  could  number,  of  all 
nations  and  kindreds  and  people  and 
tongues,  before  the  throne  and  before  the 
Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes  and  palms 
in  their  hands;"  but  not  one,  who  does 
not  ascribe  the  conquest  of  his  mind  and 
heart  to  the  believing  view  of  a  dying 
Christ.  This  is  "the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge."  The  love  of  Christ  constrain- 
eth  them.  It  is  a  fit  preparation  for 
eventual  universal  dominion,  that  first  of 
all  Christ  subdues  his  people  unto  him  by 
the  blood  of  his  cross. 

4.  It  is  in  Christ's  character  of  dying 
Saviour,  that  the  church  universal  regards 
him,  even  in  heaven.  In  his  triumphal  re- 
tinue there  is  not  one,  whose  eye  is  not 
fixed  on  the  vesture  of  blood.  It  is  not 
the  manger  or  the  sepulchre,  that  we  think 
of  in  connexion  with  the  name  Jesus, 
so  much  as  the  Cross.  See,  in  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed,  how  soon  we  go  from  Bethle- 
hem to  Calvary,  "  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
—suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate."  It  is  one 
of  the  tokens  of  declining  religion  when 
this  character  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  thrown 


348  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

into  the  obscurity  of  the  back-ground,  even 
though  much  be  said  of  his  teaching  and 
his  example.  It  is  an  evil  symptom  when 
congregations  begin  to  complain  that  they 
have  too  much  of  blood  and  atonement ; 
and  it  is  usually  a  precursor  of  Unitarian 
infidelity,  when  the  Lord's  Supper  is  emp- 
tied of  its  reference  to  propitiation,  and  in- 
stead of  beinsr  a  memorial  and  seal  of  the 
bloody  covenant  and  sacrificial  death,  be- 
comes only  a  solemn  way  of  joining  the 
church  or  taking  a  Christian  vow.  As  in 
our  effectual  calling  and  first  believing,  it 
is  the  dying  Jesus  who  fills  the  whole  hea- 
ven of  our  vision,  and  to  whom  our  whole 
gushing  soul  goes  forth,  as  if  there  were 
scarcely  another  being  in  the  Universe ; 
and  as  in  that  hour  of  love  we  feel  the 
hands  which  are  laid  around  our  sinking 
souls  to  be  the  pierced  hands,  and  the 
heart  that  throbs  to  ours  the  broken  heart ; 
so  all  along  our  Christian  course,  it  is  the 
same  holy  fascination  which  will  not  let 
us  take  our  eyes  from  the  awful  lovely 
sight,  of  our  Divine  Friend  and  Elder 
Brother  "  bruised  for  our  iniquities."  And 
then   in  another  solemn  hour  if  the    dying 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  349 

saint  has  any  image  floating  before  his  in- 
ward eye,  when  the  last  murmur  has 
ceased  to  attendant  friends,  and  when  the 
glassy  balls  convey  no  light  — -  it  is  the 
image  of  Christ  on  the  Cross:  and  when 
(the  next  moment)  the  refreshed,  healed, 
and  ransomed  soul,  is  admitted  to  the  vi- 
sion of  the  Redeemer,  it  beholds  him  as 
a  aLamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world."  Christ  will  not  have  this 
forgotten,  even  in  the  day  of  his  victori- 
ous entry,  to  receive  his  spotless  bride. 
Though  he  who  sitteth  on  the  white  horse 
is  the  Faithful  and  True  (v.  11)  —  the 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  (v.  16) 
—  yea  the  very  Word  of  God  (v.  13)  — 
yet  is  he  "clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped 
in  blood."  Do  not  think  my  beloved 
brethren,  that  there  will  be  one  saint  in 
glory,  who  will  not  feel  that  all  pardon 
safety  and  joy,  and  all  there  is  in  heaven, 
have  been  purchased  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  his  priestly  character.  This  it  is 
which  pierces  the  heart  of  Christ's  redeem- 
ed bride,  that  Christ  should  have  died  for 
her.  She  can  never  forget  it,  in  earth  or 
heaven.      By  this    name,    Jesus,    the    name 


350 


which  tells  of  death,  she  would  ever  name 
her  Lord :  in  these  colours  of  crimson 
would  she  ever  behold  him.  Deserving  as 
He  is  of  all  rolbes  of  majesty  and  crowns 
of  honour,  none  of  them  would  so  glorious- 
ly become  his  divine  beauty  and  kingship, 
if  he  were  not  "  clothed  with  a  vesture 
dipped  in  blood."  The  breathing  of  his 
heart-broken  church  and  turtle  dove  has 
continually  been  the  same  as  of  the  indi- 
vidual penitent. 

11  His  dying  crimson,   like  a  robe 
Spreads  o'er  his  body  on  the  tree 
Then  am  I  dead  to  all  the  globe 
And  all  the  globe  is  dead  to  me." 

5.  But  the  power  and  majesty  of  Christ 
are  to  be  shown,  not  merely  over  those 
who  believe  in  him,  that  is  to  say,  his 
Church,  but  over  the  world.  The  whole 
tenor  of  prophecy  shows  that  there  is  a 
day  coming  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  ap- 
pear in  his  royalty,  and  when  he  shall 
have  amends  for  all  he  has  endured  from 
his  enemies.  Our  earth  is  waiting  for  a 
scene  of  glorious  indemnity  and  reprisals. 
Say  not  that  since  the   resurrection    Christ 


351 

has  suffered  and  been  persecuted  no  more. 
He  hath  suffered!  With  vastly  more  sig- 
nificancy  than  his  servant  Paul,  can  he  say, 
"Who  is  offended,  and  I  burn  not?"  To 
that  same  apostle,  when  yet  a  foe,  he  cried 
from  heaven,  in  terms  that  show  how  truly 
he  takes  to  himself  all  that  is  aimed  at 
his  people,  "Saul  Saul  why  persecutest  thou 
me  \ "  From  his  judgment  throne  he  shall 
say,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not 
to  me."  For  centuries  Christ's  church  has 
been  the  mark  for  enemies;  and  as  if 
impatient  at  delay,  "the  souls  of  them  that 
were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for 
the  testimony  which  they  held,"  have  been 
crying  from  beneath  the  altar,  Eev.  6 : 9 
"How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost 
thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth?"  Let  no 
careless  sinner,  let  no  froward  opposer,  per- 
suade himself,  that  because  our  king  Mes- 
siah is  infinite  in  goodness,  he  is  therefore 
to  do  nothing  in  the  universe  but  bless 
and  save.  For  such  mistakers,  it  will  be 
too  late,  when  the  voice  shall  be  heard 
saying,  Is.  63 :  4  "  For  the  day  of  vengeance 


352  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

is  in  my  heart  and  the  year  of  my  re- 
deemed is  come."  There  is  a  day  of  ven- 
geance; and  to  this  some  refer  the  vesture 
clipped  in  blood;  finding  a  parallel  in  the 
words  of  Isaiah;  "I  have  trodden  the 
winepress  alone,  and  of  the  people  there 
was  none  with  me;  for  I  will  tread  them 
in  mine  anger,  and  trample  them  in  my 
fury;  and  their  "blood  shall  he  sprinkled 
upon  my  garments,  and  I  will  stain  all  my 
raiment."  These  words  of  Isaiah  undenia- 
bly refer  to  the  punishment  which  Christ 
shall  inflict  on  his  obstinate  enemies.  And 
our  present  context  by  no  means  excludes 
this  idea  of  vindicatory  justice;  for  see  in 
v.  15.  "Out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a  sharp 
sword,  that  with  it  he  should  smite  the 
nations:  and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a 
rod  of  iron,  and  he  tread eth  the  winepress 
of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty 
God."  The  idea  of  Christ's  vengeance,  I 
say,  is  by  no  means  excluded ;  and  never- 
theless I  adhere  to  that  common  view  of 
the  text,  which  understands  it  as  relating 
to  sacrificial  blood.  He  who  rides  in  tri- 
umph appears  primarily  as  God  the  Saviour, 
then  as  God   the  Judee.       He   is   humbled 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  353 

before  lie  is  exalted.     The  propitiation  and 
passion   are   the   foundation   of  the  triumph 
and  the  reign.     Yet  when  the  once-crucified 
Jesus  re-appears   and  the  armies  which  are 
in    heaven    follow  him   upon   white   horses, 
clothed   in    fine    linen,  white    and    clean  — 
the   very  love   which  he    "bears   his   church 
will   cause    him   to   destroy  her    oppressors. 
Age  after   age  despots  in  church  and  state 
have   forgotten  it;    yet   as   far  back  as  the 
second    psalm,  v.  9    we   remember  to    have 
heard    it    sung,  unto    Messiah,  "Thou  shalt 
break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron;  thou  shalt 
dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel." 
Again  (Ps.  89:23)    "I   will   beat   down  his 
foes  before  his  face,  and  plague  them  that 
hate  him."     Nay  it  is    a  rule  and    a  vindi- 
cation, secured    not   only  to   our    king,  but 
to    his    church;     for,    if    words    have    any 
meaning,  we  so  read,  (2:26)  in  the  message 
to   Thyatira:    "And  to  him   that   overcom- 
eth,  will  I  give   power   over    the    nations." 
So  Paul,   comforts    his  Thessalonians   (1 :  T) 

« And  to    you  who    are   troubled  rest — 

^th.  us— when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be 
revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  an- 
gels,  in  flaming    fire    taking   vengeance    on 


354 

them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey 
not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
How  different  this  from  what  some  expect 
at  Christ's  appearing!  He  shall  come  not 
only  to  give  "rest,"  but  to  "take  .ven- 
geance." And  under  this  general  head  of 
judicial  recompense  we  can  scarcely  fail  to 
include  Christ's  'providential  dealings  with 
kings  and  commonwealths.  Christ  is  king 
of  kings  and  king  of  commonwealths.  All 
the  constitutions  good  and  bad  of  the 
world  are  unwittingly  working  out  a  prob- 
lem which  he  hath  set  them.  And  some- 
times when  I  hear  of  wars  and  convul- 
sions and  dethronements,  it  seems  to  me 
that  I  am  listening  to  the  sound  of  earth- 
en vessels,  dashing  one  another  to  pieces, 
in  the  violent  rushing  torrent  of  divine 
destiny.  He  that  died  on  Calvary  holds  a 
guiding  hand  over  all  the  changes  of  man- 
kind. In  the  scroll  of  prophecy  some  parts 
are  but  half-unrolled,  as  yet.  Still,  amidst 
much  darkness  there  are  some  things  which 
we  can  read,  in  characters  of  flame.  All 
the  future  is  not  to  be  days  of  peace. 
Whatever  the  advocates  of  perfectibilian  pro- 
gress   may  say,  and  whatever   dreams   they 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  355 

may  have  of  a  golden  age  and  Saturnian 
kingdoms,  when  they  shall  have  destroyed 
property  and  marriage  and  the  sabbath 
and  the  church  —  he  that  sitteth  in  the 
heavens  shall  laugh,  the  Lord  shall  have 
them  in  derision ;  "  Then  shall  he  speak 
unto  them  in  his  sore  displeasure."  These 
retributions  are  yet  in  reserve.  Ever  since 
our  Lord  rode  in  triumph  over  prostrate 
Jerusalem,  he  has  from  time  to  time  been 
making  bare  his  arm  in  behalf  of  his 
church.  The  eye  of  the  student  of  prophe- 
cy sees  one  grand  retribution,  as  vivid  as 
lightning.  Babylon  awaits  her  destruction. 
If  the  volcanic  fires  that  break  out  some- 
times at  Etna  and  sometimes  at  Vesuvius, 
and  smoulder  under  the  whole  Campagna, 
were  all  at  once  to  unsettle  the  seven 
hills,  and  physically  shake  down  the  seat 
of  antichristian  tyranny,  the  explosion  would 
not  be  more  sudden  nor  the  overthrow 
more  complete,  than  that  which  we  expect 
for  Babylon.  ~No  abridgment  can  be  made 
of  the  eighteenth  chapter — we  see  her  glo- 
ry— we  see  her  fall — we  behold  the  com- 
mercial nations  standing  afar  off  and  be- 
wailing her  desolation :   v.  20  "  Rejoice  over 


856 

her,  tliou  lieavens  and  ye  holy  apostles  and 
prophets;  for  God  hath  avenged  you  on 
her."  The  hour  is  at  hand,  my  brethren, 
when  to  be  on  Christ's  side  will  be  the 
only  safety  in  the  universe;  when  his  ene- 
mies shall  in  the  sight  of  all  intelligent 
beings,  be  confounded;  and  when  those 
that  "love  his  appearing"  shall  shine  forth 
like  the   sun. 

6.  More  particularly,  the  exaltation  of 
our  atoning  Lord  is  connected  with  the 
variety  and  greatness  of  his  realms:  "On 
his  head  were  many  crowns."  It  is  not  a 
single  sovereignty.  Many  crowns  import 
diversity  of  rule  and  empire.  He  is  "King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,"  and  rightfully 
bears  the  diadems  of  all  the  kings  and 
lords  over  whom  he  reigns.  He  that  was 
slain,  has  by  virtue  of  his  death,  the  crown 
of  the  church;  he  wears  it,  benignant  in 
love,  the  royal  bridegroom,  who  can  never 
for  a  moment  forget  the  crown  of  thorns, 
which  he  wore  for  her  sake.  He  has  the 
crown  of  the  nations ;  "  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ."  As  the  day  ap- 
proaches we  may  expect   the  wheels  to  run 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  357 

round  more  rapidly;  more  thrones  will 
totter;  more  dynasties  will  crumble  away, 
and  fall  into  the  political  crater;  more  op- 
pressions will  cease;  more  brotherhoods 
will  coalesce;  more  commerce  will  knit 
together  continents;  more  discoveries  will 
harmonize  conflicting  interests ;  more  liberty 
will  be  granted  to  religion;  more  ships 
will  be  freighted  with  the  word;  more 
kings  shall  be  nursing  fathers  and  queens 
nursing  mothers,  until  the  day  when  "he 
who  blesseth  himself  in  the  earth  shall 
bless  himself  in  the  God  of  truth,  and  he 
that  sweareth  in  the  earth  shall  swear  by 
the  God  of  truth:  because  the  former 
troubles  are  forgotten,  and  because  they  are 
hid  from  mine  eyes."  More  visibly  shall 
Jesus  then  reign  over  the  nations.  He  has 
farther  the  crown  of  the  Universe;  and 
he  has  it  because  of  his  bloodshedding  and 
death.  He  who  (in  the  text)  says  "his 
name  is  called  the  Word  of  God"  is  the 
same  apostle  who  elsewhere  ascribes  to  that 
mysterious  name  the  creation  of  the  world. 
"He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was 
made  by  him,  and  the  world  knew  him 
not."     Had    they   known    him,   they   would 


358  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  But 
ou  that  very  cross  he  triumphed  over 
them,  and  his  many  crowns  well  comport 
with  the  vesture  dipped  in  blood.  He 
died  —  "wherefore  God  also  hath  highly 
exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  which 
is  above  every  name ;  that  at  the  name 
of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things 
in  heaven  and  things  in  earth  and  things 
under  the  earth."  "All  things  were  crea- 
ted Col.  1 :  16  by  him  and  for  him;  and  he 
is  before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things 
consist."  There  is  no  higher  name,  there  is 
no  more  regal  glory.  When  we  arrive  in 
our  ascent  at  Christ  Jesus,  we  reach  the 
acme  of  divine  sovereignty;  we  are  brought 
to  rest  in  the  centre.  And  this  illustrates 
and  magnifies  the  condescending  grace  and 
compassion  whereby  such  creatures  (as  we 
have  been)  are  allowed  to  approach  the 
infinite  Ruler.  Is  it  credible,  that  God  the 
"Word,  incarnate,  should  have  purchased 
such  an  exaltation — for  such  sinners — and 
by  such  means?  by  dying,  for  them,  the 
accursed  death  of  the  cross!  Is  it  credi- 
ble? Yea,  faith  receives  it;  as  the  prime 
doctrine   of   religion.       Here    is    the   down- 


359 


ward  flight  of  pity  and  love,  which  no 
comprehension  of  mind  can  measure.  .  .  . 
God  so  loved  the  world !  He  has  a  right 
to  reign;  first  over  us,  then  over  all.  Let 
the  circle  widen,  from  self,  and  family,  and 
acquaintanceship,  and  state,  and  country, 
and  language,  and  church,  and  planet,  and 
system,  till  the  universe  be  taken  into  the 
sweep  of  his  dominion,  and  all  worlds  con- 
tribute to  his  many  crowns!  Each  hum- 
bled, panting  soul  will  say,  Lord  whatever 
men,  and  whatever  worlds  may  reject  thee 
— thou  shalt  reign  over  me!  Here,  here 
is  thy  throne.  Forgive  me,  forgive  me,  O 
forgive  me — that  I  have  been  so  long  with- 
holding this  homage !  Forgive  me,  incar- 
nate Love,  that  other  lords  beside  thee 
have  had  dominion  over  me.  Take  the 
full  overflowing  tide  of  all  my  affections, 
O  Jesus!  "Would  God  the  vessel  were 
more  capacious!  Would  God,  that  millions 
of  other  hearts  might  join,  to  make  the 
sacrifice  of  praise  more  worthy.  O  thou 
who  art  clothed  in  a  vesture  dipped  in 
blood,  in  this  land  of  my  exile  and  home- 
sickness I  will  anticipate  the  song  of  glo- 
ry, and    say,    These    crowns    become    thee! 


360 


Rule  thou  in  the  midst  of  thine  enemies ! 
for   thou  art  worthy ! 

7.  Such  are  the  contrasts  afforded  by 
this  wonderful  glimpse  of  coming  day:  we 
are  carried  directly  from  the  cross  to  the 
throne.  And  this  occasions  no  shock  to 
the  loving  mind;  for  as  there  never  was 
a  true  believer  who  did  not  grieve  with 
Christ  in  his  sufferings,  as  if  the  soul  itself 
had  been  in  part  the  guilty  cause  of  this 
suffering, — so,  I  suppose,  there  never  was  a 
true  believer  who  did  not  rejoice  with 
Christ  in  his  heavenly  recompense  and  ex- 
altation. Who  that  knows  the  Lord  does 
not  exult  to  think  that  every  conceivable 
diadem  of  glory  is  put  upon  his  head;  and 
that  he  is  coming  to  be  acknowledged  by 
the  universe  as  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords?  Yes  Christians — ye  shall  be 
among  the  multitude,  whose  utterance,  "as 
the  voice  of  many  waters  and  as  the  voice 
of  mighty  thunderings,  shall  be,  "Alleluia: 
for  the  Lord   God  omnipotent  reigneth ! " 

O  my  brethren,  and  ye  who  sit  here 
so  unconcerned,  these  are  solemn  times, 
which  are  coming  upon  the  earth !  None 
of   that  news  from    beyond    sea,  which    so 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  361 

much  excites    you,  is    to    be    compared    to 
these  certain  changes!     The  sublunary  revo- 
lutions  are   only   precursors   of    the    grand, 
divine  revolution.     You   are  perhaps   nearer 
to   the    point  of  observation,  than   you   are 
willing  to  think.     Presently,  who  knows  but 
you  shall  hear  a  "great  voice  from  heaven, 
saying   Come  up  hither!"        Whether  you 
live  long   enough   on   earth,  to  witness  any 
indubitable  signs  of  Christ's  coming,  or  not, 
you  will  very  soon  be   called  to  judgment, 
and  will  taste  the  experience  of  heaven  or 
hell.       How    will    your    scorching    eyeballs 
shrink  back  into  their   orbits,   from  before 
him  whose  eyes  are  as  a  name  of  fire — if 
you    shall    have    been    finally    impenitent! 
Of  what  profit  will  it  be  to  you  to  have 
seen  unfolded  so  often  this  vesture   dipped 
in.  blood;    so   often  to    have    turned    your 
back    on    Sacraments;    so    often    to   have 
been  directed  and  invited  and  besought  to 
take  part  in  this  propitiation;  if  then,  after 
all,   you  shall  behold    in  Jesus   Christ,  not 
a  pardoning  God,  but  an  avenging  Judge? 
Of  what  profit  will  it  be   to  you,   to   be- 
hold Christ  arrayed  in  majesty  and  crowned 
with  dominion,  and  followed  by  the  armies 
16 


362  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

of  heaven,  if,  at  the  dread  moment,  con- 
science shall  rise  and  tell  you,  that  your 
portion  is  henceforth  with  the  fearful,  the 
abominable,  and  the  unbelieving !  But  why 
need  it  so  be?  Behold  the  lamb  of  God, 
that  taketk  away  the  sin  of  the  world! 
The  spot  from  which  I  address  you  seems 
bedewed  with  the  blood  of  Christ.  Every 
thing  Sacramental  is  full  of  invitation. 
Though  you  may  have  entered  those  doors 
in  utter  carelessness,  why  should  you  not 
now  be  subdued  by  the  mighty  argument 
of  the  Cross?  Your  inexcusable  delay  does 
but  magnify  your  danger.  You  cannot  be 
sure  of  another  offer  of  Christ  as  long  as 
you  live.  "To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not   your  hearts!" 

And  you,  my  beloved  Christian  brethren 
who  have  come  with  me  to  surround  the 
table  of  the  Lord;  you  who  know  him; 
you  who  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gra- 
cious; you  who  have  with  the  full  concert 
of  every  power  of  soul,  humbly  but  de- 
lightedly given  yourselves  away  to  Christ, 
and  who  would  gladly  renew  the  gift  a 
thousand  thousand  times,  adding  to  it  if 
you    could    the    inhabitants   of    a  thousand 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  363 

thousand  worlds;  you  come  hither  this  day 
with  a  welcome!  Of  this  you  need  have 
no  doubt.  Let  me  for  your  encouragement 
dwell  in  conclusion  on  two  thoughts.  (1) 
You  are  coming  to  one  who  is  clothed  in 
a  vesture  dipped  in  blood.  You  are  coming 
to  him  who  died  for  you  (the  simplest  but 
greatest  truth  in  all  religion).  Here  on  this 
table,  you  will  behold  the  broken  body  and 
shed  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  If  now  this 
Redeemer  lays  such  stress  on  his  sacrificial 
work  and  precious  bloodshedding,  as  not 
even  to  ride  in  triumph  without  the  badge 
of  his  death,  how  confidently  may  you  ap- 
proach the  eucharistic  table  with  hope  of 
being  received!  The  very  intention  of  the 
rite  is  to  show  forth  that  very  death,  which 
is  the  sole  foundation  of  a  sinner's  life. 
The  day  is  coming,  I  know,  when  Christ  is 
to  be  on  a  throne  of  judgment.  Then  hav- 
ing died  in  your  sins  it  will  indeed  be  too 
late  to  pray  to  him;  and  though  you  pray 
to  rocks  and  mountains,  they  will  no  more 
melt,  at  your  cry,  than  your  hearts  have 
melted  at  the  cry  of  God.  But  now,  Jesus 
is  upon  the  throne  of  grace.  He  treats 
with    you    from    the    mercy-seat.       It   is   a 


364:  Christ's  cross  and  crown. 

duty  you  owe  Mm,  to  cast  away  these  un- 
believing hesitations.  He  commands  you  to 
"believe;  He  commands  you  to  rejoice.  He 
offers  you  himself,  as  gratuitously  as  we 
offer  you  this  bread  and  wine.  And  still 
I  think  I  perceive  some  of  you,  even  of 
long  standing  in  Christianity,  murmuring  in 
your  tents  as  if  it  were  false  that  "this 
man  receiveth  sinners."  You  doubt  and 
distrust.  This  has  come  upon  you  for  your 
sins,  your  worldly  compliances,  your  neg- 
lects, your  idolatries.  You  have  lost  your 
evidences,  and  are  afraid  of  your  Saviour. 
—But  O  tell  me,  is  this  the  way  to  treat 
one  who  died  for  you!  Shame  on  your 
scruples  and  delay;  Come  boldly  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  and  to  the  table  of  mercy, 
that  you  may  obtain  mercy  and  find  grace 
to  help  in  time  of  need.  For  (2)  you 
are  coming  to  one,  who  bears  on  his  head 
many  crowns.  You  are  coming  to  a  King. 
Therefore  enlarge  your  petitions.  Be  not 
niggardly  in  your  expectations,  as  though 
these  gifts  went  by  desert.  It  is  the  very 
first  thing  which  you  have  to  unlearn  in 
religion.  The  promise  is,  "I  am  he  who 
brought  thee   out    of    the   land    of    Egypt ; 


Christ's  cross  and  crown.  365 

open  thy  mouth  wide  and  I  will  fill  it." 
I  am  he  that  redeemed  thee — make  large 
requests,  and  be  satisfied.  This  Great  King 
has  invited  you  here  to  bless  you.  He  is 
able  to  subdue  your  enemies  and  deliver 
you  from  your  sins.  You  cannot  ask  too 
much  of  spiritual  good  for  your  soul.  You 
cannot  ask  more  than  Christ's  death  has 
merited.  You  cannot  ask  more  than  Christ's 
power  can  effect.  You  are  at  liberty  to 
multiply  your  prayers,  in  the  way  of  inter- 
cession, for  those  whom  you  bring  in  the 
love  of  your  hearts,  to  this  sacred  place. 
Where  are  you?  Is  not  this  a  King's 
court  ?  Is  not  the  master  of  the  Assembly 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords?  Be  in 
haste  to  include  in  your  petition  all  whom 
you  would  look  around  for,  if  the  next 
moment  should  bring  the  crash  of  the 
Universe.  Can  you  ascend  to  heaven  with- 
out these  souls !  Can  you  clasp  to  your  bo- 
som one  whom  you  may  yet  see  at  Christ's 
left  hand!  Go  further — stretch  more  wide 
the  arms  of  comprehensive  benevolence ! 
Take  in  a  world  of  sinners.  You  are  in 
the  presence-chamber  of  that  King,  who 
cried   "And   I,  if  I  be   lifted   up  from  the 


366 


earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." — By 
all  his  atoning  blood,  by  all  his  regal 
crowns,  plead  with  him,  instantly,  and  im- 
portunately, that  he  would  speedily  come 
and  turn  his  enemies  into  friends !  All  the 
other  thoughts,  desires  and  passions  of  life 
ought  to  be  swallowed  up  in  this,  and 
would  be  ....  if  we  only  saw  things 
aright.  No  object,  conceivable  by  man,  can 
stand  comparison  for  an  instant  with  the 
reign  of  Christ  over  a  subdued  world. 
Perish  all  gain,  all  power,  all  science,  all  art, 
all  honor,  in  comparison.  Let  the  same  mind 
be  in  you,  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus.  Look 
out  for  the  deepest,  fathomless  part  of  the 
ocean,  for  a  place  whereinto  to  cast  forever 
that  burdensome  millstone  about  your  neck 
.  .  .  I  mean  Self!  Show  it  no  mercy! 
For  Christ — for  his  Cross — for  his  Crown — 
for  his  people — count  all  things  but  loss. 


